Nigerian and Middle Eastern IT Companies form Alliance to Boost ICT Market

By Efem Nkanga., 07.20.2006

An alliance between two leading ICT companies in Nigeria and two ICT companies from the Middle East aimed at boosting the market in Nigeria has been formed. THISDAY gathered that the strategic alliance between Vmobile and Global Infoswift, two leading ICT companies in Nigeria and the Mobile Telecommunications Company (MTC) and International Turnkey Systems (ITS), two Middle East Information and Communications Technology giants will add to the growth of the fast growing telecoms market. MTC, a major player in the Middle East telecom sector recently acquired a 65 per cent stake in Vmobile Nigeria, through its African subsidiary, Celtel with the possibility of acquiring the remaining 35 per cent in the future.

This acquisition offers MTC a unique opportunity to gain partial management of one of Nigeria's fastest growing telecom companies and it is also consistent with its strategy of expanding its footprints through selective acquisition of telecoms companies in the Middle East and Africa. ITS, one of the leading IT solutions providers in the Middle East, has recently concluded a partnering agreement with Global InfoSwift Technologies Limited, the Nigerian software integration company, with the objective of locating in Nigeria the largest IT support and coding centre in Africa. Mr. Solomon Edun, chief executive officer of Global Infoswift, said these two strategic partnership is capable of enhancing the growth of the ICT industry in Nigeria and also ensure that the country quickly emerge to be a force to reckon with in the global ICT industry. He said the alliance is capable of providing more job opportunities and contribute meaningfully to the poverty reduction strategy of the current administration in the country. "It is also capable of creating more wealth in the industry, increase technology capabilities in the sector and bring about further transfer of technology into the country," he said. Edun said with the pedigree of the two Middle East companies, Vmobile and Global Infoswift made the right decisions in establishing an enduring alliance with the Middle East giants. Industry analysts are also of the opinion that there is likelihood that the four companies would work together in Nigeria since Dr. Saad Al Barak was the managing director of ITS prior his appointment as the deputy chairman and chief executive officer of MTC.

ITS was established in 1981 in Kuwait as a computer systems and IT specialist company but today has operations in several countries including Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Oman, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria providing turnkey system solutions in telecom, banking and finance, IT infrastructure, higher education among others for large and middle sized companies and institutions in the Middle East. It provides technology through partnerships with the world specialised companies, Harland Financial Solutions, Broad Vision, Cisco, Verifone, Oracle, Sybase, Compaq, HP etc. Edun said ITS is committed to providing state of the art technology solutions that are complete, secure and adhering to the highest quality standards. He said this is why the company adopts a collaborative approach with their clients helping them to realize maximum business value for their technical investments.

According to him, ITS currently has a robust client base consisting of 57 banks/finance institutions, 11 telecommunications companies and a market capitalisation of over $500 million. Edun said ITS brings two decades of experience in providing turnkey solutions to bear on its relationship with Global InfoSwift to provide added value services in a better way to all their clients in Nigeria.

He described the acquisition of Vmobile by MTC as a unique opportunity to gain partial management of one of Nigeria's fastest growing telecom companies and it is also consistent with its strategy of expanding its footprints through selective acquisition of telecoms companies in the Middle East and Africa. Commenting on the alliance, Al Barrak stated that MTC would bring to bear on its operations in Nigeria the highest level of international standards of corporate governance which always in the long run improve performance, benefit all stakeholders and serve the public interest. He said that the dynamic forces of excellence, diversity and benevolence which have enabled MTC become one of the leading telecom companies in the Middle East and Africa, with a market capitalization of over $12 billion, would continue to propel it as it engages in profitable expansion seeking to create economic and social values in the Nigerian economy. “It is worthy of mention that MTC is an organisation of firsts in several areas," Edun said. "Their strong financial status, powerful brand recognition and substantial growth over the years put it at an advantage as it utilises the organisation's synergies to contribute to the provision of better services to Vmobile's clients and increase shareholders returns."