Aftrak and Global Manufacturing Africa partner to assemble and distribute the AFT-e1 in South Africa
A supply partnership with Cape Town's Global Manufacturing Africa: in-country assembly of AFT-e1 kits, a distribution network across the SADC region, and the spares, technicians and training that keep machines working.
Aftrak and Global Manufacturing Africa (GMA), a Cape Town manufacturing and distribution company, have announced a strategic supply partnership to assemble, distribute and support the AFT-e1 walk-behind electric tractor across South Africa and the broader SADC region.
Under the agreement GMA assembles AFT-e1 kits at its Cape Town facility, creating local employment and cutting the cost and complexity of importing finished machines. It is the first commercial launch of the AFT-e1 with in-country assembly behind it.
“The machine is only part of the story. What keeps it running — the spare parts, the trained hands, the nearby workshop — that's what determines whether a farmer still has a working tractor in year five or year ten. Our supply arrangement with GMA gives us the infrastructure to build that ecosystem in South Africa from day one.”
More than distribution
GMA is building the infrastructure to support the machine across its working life: a local spares library, a certified repair technician network and structured farmer training. To reach farmers at scale it has set up a seven-tier channel partner programme, from individual agricultural advisors to regional and national distributors, built outward from Cape Town with the ambition of reaching all sixteen SADC member states.
For smallholder and peri-urban farmers the AFT-e1 answers fuel price volatility and the cost of imported machinery. For commercial farms with spread-out holdings, a machine that loads into a bakkie removes the cost of moving heavier equipment between sites.
“South Africa has the engineering capability, the workforce, and the agricultural need to be a manufacturer and exporter of advanced equipment — not just an importer of it.”