Continental Tyre South Africa (CTSA) has appointed a new senior management team for its tyre manufacturing plant in Gqeberha (formerly Port Elizabeth), Continental’s only tyre production facility on the African continent.
Ahmed Boualam is the new General Manager for Manufacturing with responsibility for overall management of the plant operations. Ramoabi Moeng has been appointed Deputy Plant Manager, supporting Boualam with the running of the facility – both of whom have extensive experience in both the manufacturing and tyre industries.
Boualam was seconded from Continental’s South Carolina Sumter tyre plant in the United States, where he served as Plant Manager for the past two years.
Continental Tyre SA’s outgoing GM for Manufacturing, JJ Dowling, has relocated to the US to take up the position of Production Manager for the Sumer plant.
“I want to thank JJ Dowling for all of his hard work and commitment to CTSA over the past five years he was with us, and wish him all the best for his new role at our sister plant in Sumter,” says Martin Buday, MD of Continental Tyre SA. “We extend a warm welcome back to Ahmed who takes over the reins as our new GM for Manufacturing.
“Our Gqeberha plant in South Africa is not new to Ahmed as worked here for three years prior to his move to the US. I am certain that he, along with our newly appointed Deputy Plant Manager Ramoabi Moeng, will be a force to be reckoned with as they use their combined experience and expertise to successfully steer the manufacturing side of our business,” Buday says.
It is fantastic to be back in South Africa, and I look forward to working with the local management team to continue increasing the production of light truck tyres.
Ahmed Boualam, new General Manager for Manufacturing, continental tyres South Africa
Boualam has been involved in the tyre industry since 2007, starting in his native France as a production management engineer before moving up to Production Manager in the curing and final finishing areas. He joined Continental in France in 2011, initially as Area Manager in the Curing and Mold Shop, and later in the hot preparation and mixing room.
A three-year stint as Production Manager for the Continental Tyre plant in South Africa followed in 2016 before he was selected to head up the Sumter plant in 2019.
“It is fantastic to be back in South Africa, and I look forward to working with the local management team to continue the transformation of our facility as we work towards increasing the production of light truck tyres,” Boualam says. “While optimising the output of our current assets, we are working closely with our colleagues in Hanover and will be making further investments in our factory to expand our production capacity for this important sector.
“The goal is to make Continental Tyre SA a major producer of light commercial vehicle tyres within Continental globally, and supply tyres of the highest quality to more markets around the world,” Boualam says. He is a qualified mechanical and production engineer, and has a Master’s degree in Business Management which he completed in 2005.
