Computer Warehouse Group
Q&A: Africa's ICT Entrepreneurs Africa Outlook hosted a Q&A with Austin Okere, Chief Executive Officer of Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) PLC and Entrepreneur in Residence, Columbia Business School, New York Writer Matt Bone Project Manager Donovan Smith Could you give me an introduction to Computer Warehouse Group? Computer Warehouse Group (CWG) was established in September 1992 with just a US$16,000 operating budget and six staff. We built the company up slowly and steadily in the ICT markets and began to expand. We thrive on staying ahead of the curve in the ever changing technology landscape and maintaining a dominant leadership position. We have evolved from being a Dell PC sales and support company, through providing Enterprise Systems, becoming an outsourcing company providing Managed Services to major clients such as MTN, where we have over 100 badged engineers managing their IT infrastructure, to becoming a dominant IT utility enabler in our region, providing Software-as-a- Service through Cloud Computing on a subscription basis. We crafted a major ICT plan in 2010, realising the popularity of cloud computing, and the major opportunities for this in our region, following the increase in broadband access from 0.65tb to a combined capacity of 9Tbits per second by the end of 2013. We now have a staff complement of 650 employees, of which 80% are engineers and ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) certified. We have consolidated our leadership position in the ICT sector with a record turnover of about US$130 million (N20.8billion) last year. We were very clear that while our tremendous growth…
Business Connexion Zambia
Connecting Zambia With a focus on delivering the Connective Intelligence™ value proposition, Business Connexion are bringing cloud computing to Zambia Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Donovan Smith The diverse and vibrant Zambian economy presents a range of opportunities for the delivery of world-class Information and Communication Technology solutions. One such company that benefits from this is Business Connexion, who have successfully delivered industry-leading solutions to the financial services, academic, telecommunications, SMB, public sector as well as oil and gas sectors for over five years. Focused on delivering the Connective Intelligence™ value proposition, the company has over 7000 members of staff, who pride themselves on flexibility, teamwork and cross-skilling. Connective Intelligence™ is about connecting the world's most advanced information and communication technology (ICT) products, services and solutions, and merging them with the skills and experience of some of the world's best-qualified individuals, to provide simple, affordable solutions to Africa and the world. With this approach, Business Connexion Zambia has the capability to successfully implement substantial projects while maintaining close relationships built on mutual value-creation. "The Zambian office has delivered projects including data centres, wireless networks, cabling infrastructures and more," explains Damiano Tembo, CEO of Business Connexion Zambia. The company holds partnerships with major vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft, IBM, HP, Systimax and NetApp, underpinning Business Connexion's presence with access to expertise and resources for the design, delivery and support of elegant solutions to complex business problems. "Our team represents solid service delivery and is armed with new age technologies." "To enrich communities by making the impossible-possible, through…
Mitsumi Distribution
Africa's fastest growing IT distributor Mitsumi's regional geographical coverage and extensive customer base has made the group the largest and fastest growing distributor in Africa Writer Emily Jarvis Project Manager Donovan Smith Mitsumi IT Distribution was formed in Nairobi, Kenya in the year 1996 with the aim of introducing appropriate and affordable technologies to Africa and now 18 years on, the company are proud to be a Pan-Africa Distributor. As authorised distributors for leading global IT hardware and software brands, Mitsumi have a growing brand portfolio including the following well known brands: Acer, APC, Asus, BenQ, Dell, Dell SonicWall, D-Link, EPSON, HP, Huawei, IBM, iSurf, Lenovo, LINKSYS, Microsoft, Polycom, Rivedbed, Samsung, Sandisk, Toshiba, Tripp-Lite and WD. As one of the Africa's largest IT distributors, Mitsumi is the conduit through which the power of technology flows to 19 Countries in Africa. In the fiscal year 2011, the company sold IT products to more than 6,000 technology resellers in over 12 Countries. Every day these resellers depend on Mitsumi to help them costeffectively support the technology needs of end users of all sizes, including small and medium-sized businesses (SME's), large enterprises, educational institutions, government agencies and consumers. Mitsumi is a leading technology distributor with a wide network of resellers acting as a one-stop-shop in IT for dealers and resellers in Africa. Mitsumi distributes a wide range of products covering computers, data centre, storage, security, networking, software and hardware. Expansive Operations Mitsumi Distribution operates in over 19 countries in Africa. The market covered by Mitsumi includes East, West, North…
Airtel Rwanda : Always Available, Always Affordable
Airtel Rwanda has doubled their customer base as a result of their selling points: affordability, innovativeness and high quality internet.
Airtel Zambia : Interview with Charity Chanda Lumpa
Africa Outlook spoke to the first female and Zambian Managing Director for Airtel Zambia, Charity Chanda Lumpa.
Business Connexion Nigeria
Connecting Nigeria With a focus on delivering the Connective Intelligence™ value proposition, Business Connexion are bringing cloud computing to Nigeria Writer Emily Jarvis Project manager Donovan Smith The diverse and vibrant Nigerian economy presents a range of opportunities for the delivery of world-class Information and Communication Technology solutions. One such company that benefits from this is Business Connexion, who have successfully delivered industry-leading solutions to the financial services, academic, telecommunications, SMB, public sector as well as oil and gas sectors for over five years. Focused on delivering the Connective Intelligence™ value proposition, the company has over 7000 members of staff, who pride themselves on flexibility, teamwork and cross-skilling. Connective Intelligence™ is about connecting the world's most advanced information and communication technology (ICT) products, services and solutions, and merging them with the skills and experience of some of the world's best-qualified individuals, to provide simple, affordable solutions to Africa and the world. With this approach, Business Connexion Nigeria has the capability to successfully implement substantial projects while maintaining close relationships built on mutual value creation. "To date, the Nigeria office has delivered projects including data centres, wireless networks, cabling infrastructures and more," explains Ian McAlpine, Managing Director of Business Connexion Nigeria. The company holds partnerships with major vendors including Cisco, Avaya, Microsoft, IBM, HP, Systimax and NetApp, underpinning Business Connexion's presence with access to expertise and resources for the design, delivery and support of elegant solutions to complex business problems. "Our team represents solid service delivery and is armed with new age technologies. It was only a…
Eaton Towers
Towering ahead Africa Outlook talks to Alan Harper, the Co-founder and CEO of African telecoms infrastructure firm Eaton Towers, which owns and manages telecom infrastructure across the continent and has plans to build 250 transmitter towers this year. Writer Emily Jarvis Project manager Ben Weaver African telecoms infrastructure firm Eaton Towers is continuing to expand its mobile operations and is one of a number of specialist players to launch services in Africa in recent years. It plans to build another 250 transmitter towers in 2013, increasing its African portfolio by a sixth. What's that down to? Growing internet use. "We will build about 100 towers in Uganda, 100 in South Africa and 50 in Ghana," says Alan Harper, Eaton Towers' Co-founder and CEO. Customers include Airtel, Vodafone, South Africa's MTN and Orange. "The internet boom is one of the key drivers - more people are getting online as smartphone prices fall and telecom operators improve their networks. Mobile operators are building new base stations for two reasons – one is obviously coverage, and there is still some coverage expansion going on, but increasingly it is for adding capacity to the networks." A lack of extensive fixed-line infrastructure in most African countries means mobile networks provide the main means for people to access the internet, he adds. "That's right. With fixed-line penetration being so low in so many countries most of the data usage is on the mobile networks and therefore whether it is 3G, or now we are seeing some LT E development in some markets,…
Techno Brain
The brains to succeed Techno Brain seek to establish a prominent global position and strong brand credibility as an IT solution provider Writer Emily Jarvis Project manager Donovan Smith Techno Brain is a 15 year old company operating in 19 countries, with origins in Tanzania and Daresalam, boasting an impressive 1400 employees in post across their offices. The company now have offices across the world including in the USA, UK and a Developing Centre in Hyderabad, India and Dubai. Manoj Shanker, the company's CEO, has been involved in Techno Brain's entire journey, and has more recently been in charge of securing an outstanding status for quality on a global scale. As Mr Shanker states: "Africa is a huge continent and we are an African company at our heart, who deliver local solutions at a local cost. However, we want to be known for our excellence worldwide." Understanding the African Market Mr Shanker identified that the IT and Telecoms industry in Africa has not matured in the same way as the Western world. "There are two areas that Africa are still lagging behind, one is development of local content and software. The second is the development of business applications. These are the two areas that Techno Brain have focussed on and built credibility in the market where we are able to develop and deploy complex business applications in both the public, private and non profit sectors and bring a value to the customer by deploying local resources; delivering local solutions at a local cost." In the last…
Eltek
Striking the perfect balance between power and the people Eltek have constantly led the way in high efficiency power electronics in Africa Writer Matt Bone Project manager Donovan Smith For over 40 years, Eltek have led the way in high-efficiency power electronics and energy conversion. Their headquarters are based in Norway and they have over 2400 employees in their company across 40 countries. As a global corporation and market leader, Eltek has customers in more than 100 countries across a variety of industries including telecom, rail and infrastructure, power generation, power distribution and solar energy. Helping customers save energy and money while reducing their environmental impact, Eltek are always looking for new and innovative ways to further this foundation. Bob Hurley, regional President of Eltek in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), spoke about what makes them a market leader. "For me it is our technology that makes us a market leader, especially in the telecommunications power industry. We were the first power manufacturer to come up with a High Efficiency (HE) rectifier, and we changed the market standard by at least 4-5 per cent, in moving from non-HE to HE technology. Also i think our product density from a technology viewpoint is a market leader. We currently have the most dense power supply on the market, which is very important to us and the operators who use it." Regional and local Eltek are very keen to press upon the fact they are not just a European company who has opened offices in Africa. Although their…
Broadcom Communication Networks
Broadening their horizons With a model of excellence in delivering superior and complete ICT solutions, Broadcom strives for a fast response time whilst maintaining a high level of skill and expertise Writer Matt Bone Project manager Donovan Smith Broadband Communication Networks Limited (Broadcom) are a telecommunication solution provider who supply telecommunication network solutions for mobile network operators, fixed network operators and large business customers in Africa. The company is now 13 years old having opened its doors in June 2001. Over these years, Broadcom have seen a strong and steady growth in revenue. This growth has been fuelled by the liberalisation of the mobile industry in Kenya and the East African region, with the rise in mobile communication customers and infrastructure. In order to provide the required solutions, the company work with several reputable manufacturers, providing specific areas of expertise and technology transfer. this has enabled Broadcom to develop capacity to meet the dynamic increase in mobile operators' requirements. The company have three main sectors that they focus on: New telecommunication network installations services, network maintenance services and network testing products. Within these broad sectors are more disciplined and bespoke services including; design, implementation and commissioning of various types of both wireless and wire-line telecommunication products. Broadcom are highly experienced with mobile networks covering all network elements including the infrastructure, radio frequency (RF) systems and transmission network. Missions and Vision Broadcom have a company mission statement that underlines their company ethos, they strive to be the "preferred provider of innovative and superior ICT solutions and managed…
