Schneider Electric is marking 55 years of doing business in South Africa. The energy management and automation company opened in the country in 1971.
Community Investment Holdings (CIH) owns 20.1% of the local business, Cape Business News reported. The company described that relationship as a cornerstone of its transformation work in South Africa.
“Reaching 55 years in South Africa is a proud milestone for Schneider Electric and a reflection of the strong relationships we have built with our customers, partners, employees and communities,” said Canninah Dladla, the company’s cluster president for Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dladla said South Africa had always been a strategically important market for the company. She said it would keep supporting the country’s long-term economic growth.
“Our journey here demonstrates what can be achieved when innovation is combined with local understanding, technical expertise and a commitment to sustainable development,” she said.
Schneider Electric South Africa works in several markets. These include buildings, consumer packaged goods, data centres, digital energy, industrial automation and mining. It also serves power and grid infrastructure and process industries.
The company said it uses electrification, automation and digital technology to help customers with energy and operating problems. It said it had kept investing in skills development, transformation and communities.
Professor Anna Mokgokong chairs CIH and is a non-executive director at Schneider Electric South Africa. She said the anniversary was a chance to look at the wider effect of the business.
“Fifty-five years gives us an opportunity to reflect on what it means to be a long-term corporate citizen in South Africa,” Mokgokong said.
She said the business had grown commercially and had also created opportunities and developed people. She said the partnership between CIH and Schneider Electric was built on a shared vision for sustainable growth.
“Schneider Electric’s journey demonstrates that transformation and technological progress can, and must, move forward together,” she said.
In 2025, Dladla became the company’s first female cluster president for English-speaking Africa. She has since taken over leadership of the Sub-Saharan Africa cluster.
Mokgokong said the change in leadership was a sign of the company’s progress. “Leadership matters because it shapes how organisations connect with the people and communities they serve,” she said.
She said partnerships like the one with CIH would remain essential as South Africa changes its energy system and modernises its industry.
“Africa’s future will require both technology and talent, and we all have an important role to play in bringing those two together,” Mokgokong said.
Schneider Electric said it would keep working with customers, partners, governments and communities in South Africa. It said that work would focus on electrification, automation and digital technology.
Source: this article is based on reporting by Cape Business News. Image: Cape Business News. Written with the help of AI and published by the Tzaneen Voice Business desk. See our Editorial Standards.
Anelisa Nkuna covers business and money news for Tzaneen Voice. Anelisa reports on the rand, fuel prices, interest rates, jobs, Eskom, Transnet, farming and company results. The aim is simple: explain what the numbers mean for household budgets, small businesses and workers in South Africa.