AlKifah Contracting Company (AlKifah) has consolidated its leadership position within the industry and aligned with Saudi Arabia’s national vision.
Having ranked fourth in the Construction Week Middle East’s Top 30 KSA Construction Firms 2022 list, KCC has been, over the course of the last 12 months, engaged in a structural, digital, and cultural journey of transformation.
To this end, the structural transformation was initiated by installing a new board of directors with Abdul Aziz Al Afaleq as the chairman of KCC and the group CEO of AlKifah Holding. Within its mandate, KCC works synergistically with other sister companies that form part of its supply chain.
The reformation strategy called Project Horizon was rolled out to improve every aspect of the business and ensure a seamless workflow within the organisation, says Imad B. Ghantous PE, CEO of KCC to Construction Week Middle East.
Speaking to Construction Week Middle East, Imad B Ghantous PE, the CEO of AlKifah says: “At AlKifah, we fully subscribe to this fundamental principle that diversification not only facilitates the sustainability of the business but also contributes positively to its growth. When developing our business strategy for the three-year horizon, it was imperative that we use this concept as the backbone of our approach. We have looked at the macro and micro economic outlook and created heat maps that have identified specific sectors where we expect to see the maximum spend.”
KCC has an extensive portfolio of nicely diversified work that spans the kingdom geographically, Ghantous says, adding that they strongly supported their list of blue-ribbon clients even through the pandemic.
He also states that they are mobilising for two new projects: The Riyadh SEDRA 1 development for ROSHN and a strategic project for SABIC.
AlKifah’s diversification strategy
As part of its diversification strategy in the kingdom, KCC rolled out the AlKifah University (KU), which is an online interactive learning platform that will upskill the workforce with special emphasis on designing bespoke curricula for Saudi Nationals and will support their efforts to get certifications in PMP, Six Sigma, and Lean,
among others.
In addition to KU, AlKifah’s Innovation Lab will implement new technologies such as robotics, drones, and digital twins to become more efficient, cost-effective, and to be able to address and participate in the full life cycle of the project. New delivery models such as the fully integrated model, the managing contractor model, and the progressive design build will also be offered to promote fast-track early delivery. Risk sharing and risk shedding models will also be implemented.
To summarise, Ghantous says that KCC realises the enormity of the Saudi construction market pipeline and wants to participate meaningfully in the kingdom’s development.
“We also realise that this participation requires us to reposition ourselves to respond to the project typologies and timeframes challenging Saudi Arabia’s norms. Therefore, our strategy is to establish repeat clients that trust us with their major investments. This has worked for us and will continue to do so in the future, as this is the best relationship a contractor can hope to have with their most cherished clients.
“We at AlKifah are not driven by being classified as the biggest in the nation. Instead, what drives us is our zeal to become the smartest, the most innovative, the most attractive, and the most profitable of the pack. That, we believe, is why clients will prefer to come to us to deliver their capital programmes,” he concludes.
This story is part of the cover feature which first appeared in the July issue of Construction Week Middle East magazine. You can read the full story here.
To view the July issue of the Construction Week Middle East magazine click here.
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