Spending on infrastructure by mining companies and governments is expected to boost  construction equipment sales in Africa by “the strong double digits,” according to a South African distributor of Caterpillar equipment.

“Anything that is going to require infrastructure build – roads, dams, bridges, ports, harbors, airports, railway networks, new power grids – all requires in one way or another our construction equipment,” said Clive Thomson, CEO of Barloworld Ltd., in an interview in Bloomberg Business Week.

Sales are expected to grow “by the strong double digits,” in the next five years, Thomson said in the report.

Barloworld sales of Caterpillar equipment rose 30 percent to $2.5 billion through September, according to the company’s annual report, Bloomberg Business Week said. Barloworld has exclusive distribution rights with the Peoria, Ill.-based manufacturer of heavy machinery in Russia and eight African countries including Zambia and Mozambique, the report says.

Barloworld also operates car dealerships and a logistics unit, and hopes to sell equipment to new mining projects in commodity-rich African countries. The company won contracts from  Vancouver-based First Quantum Minerals Ltd. for its Zambia copper projects and from Swakop Uranium to supply drilling and loading equipment in Namibia, the report said.