December 17, 2009 - Following a year of preparation and staff training, Western Africa’s first branded Cat Rental Store is now up and running in Burkina Faso. Opened last May in the nation’s capital Ouagadougou, it’s the latest development in over 11 years of rental activity in the country by the local Cat dealer Burkina Equipements. The new store rents wheel loaders, hydraulic excavators, track-type tractors, motor graders, compactors and allied equipment locally, as well as to mining operations located up to 450 kilometers away.

“The idea of opening a Cat Rental Store is a natural and logical continuation of rental activities we have had since 1998. During the past years we have learnt to manage the rental business in demanding conditions; our partners and customers have also had to learn to trust us. The machine fleet has evolved and grown over the years consisting today of approximately hundred machines,” explains Bernard Ballion, the director of Burkina Equipements.

Transforming the existing rental activities to correspond a Cat Rental Store took an entire year.  In addition to the signage and elements supporting communication, the staff – salesmen, operators and mechanics – needed to be trained on new products offered. Approximately fifty people work for the Cat Rental Store out of which four permanently in the store. “Today, through our Cat Rental Store, we can propose our customers operating in Burkina Faso a complete range of solutions for their equipment needs,“ Bernard Ballion says.

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For more than 80 years, Caterpillar Inc. has been building the world’s infrastructure and, in partnership with its worldwide dealer network, is driving positive and sustainable change on every continent. With 2008 sales and revenues of $51.324 billion, Caterpillar is a technology leader and the world’s leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas engines and industrial gas turbines. More information is available at www.cat.com.