Exclusive Nokia distributor i2 has set up office in Johannesburg, but will use it only as a base as it focuses solely on Sub-Saharan Africa.
According to Michael Bruchhausen, VP of i2 Sub-Saharan Africa, SA's mobile market is saturated, so the company is looking towards Africa for exponential growth in the next couple of years.
"The penetration in the rest of Africa is relatively low," says Bruchhausen. "A lot of business opportunities still remain with the coverage in some countries still being very low."
He explains: "SA is just not on the map for us right now. There are other markets that are more opportune. SA is very heavily-traded and very sophisticated."
Bruchhausen says i2 has invested $25 million (about R192.5 million) in Africa over the past 18 months, as it rolled out the necessary infrastructure to promote the brand on ground-level.
The company is already present in six different African states and employs between 18 to 32 people in each country.
Differentiation
Bruchhausen says he hopes to have i2's Africa subsidiaries break even within a year, but he knows the company faces great challenges, especially in the form of the so-called "grey market" on the continent.
He says the company will provide services and guarantees that are generally not offered elsewhere. "Our warranty will be our key differentiator," he notes.
i2 will go to market though a number of channels in Africa, including through cellular operators, wholesale and retail.
It is benchmarking its growth targets against those of Nokia, which Bruchhausen says is in the region of 40% per annum for the next couple of years.
"We are very, very aggressive. African markets grow very quickly."
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