Indian IT company Infosys Technologies is continuing its entrance into the African continent. It said in a statement Friday morning that it believes Africa is a market for long-term IT services and hopes it will be able to implement an investment strategy.
In an interview with the Times of India, Infosys CFO V Balakrishnan said that Africa has great potential and populations are demanding an improvement in IT services.
Nigeria’s regulatory body this week echoed similar statements when it said that mobile phone services in the country are sorely lacking adequate customer service and infrastructure. Infosys could capitalize on this exact issue, said Ahmed Gabr, an IT specialist based in Nairobi.
“There is a need for companies to come into Africa and establish new ideas. Infosys could be a great addition to the African markets,” he said.
Infosys does have a foot in the continent, but only in the banking sector with their product Finacle, which assists in banking, ebanking, Islamic banking and a number of other banking initiatives.
The Indian giant wants to expand this offering to include a number of offshore IT services it already offers in larger markets worldwide, including but not limited to application services, management of infrastructure and architecture services.
“This would not entail substantial investments in Africa. We would look to set up a marketing office in the region in the near future,” Balakrishnan told the Times.
The CFO added that he hoped to establish a development center on the continent in the near future to help achieve these goals.
By Desmond Shephard
This move is a perfect example of horizontal economic cooperation much must be encouraged.