African expansion for Siltek Telecoms

Siltek Telecoms is actively expanding its reseller network in the sub-Saharan African region, and has already signed up dealers in areas as diverse as Zambia and Eritrea. The resellers will mainly target the banking and manufacturing industries, as well as the government sector, and will exclusively represent Lucent Technologies and Active Voice.

"In just four months, Siltek Telecoms has concluded business deals worth R5 million from this region alone," says Neels van Rooyen, Siltek Telecom`s dealer account manager for the sub-Saharan African region. The reseller recruitment drive is also active in countries such as Mozambique, Botswana and Angola.

"The African region holds great potential for Siltek Telecoms," continues van Rooyen. "Even in a third-world continent, the IT sector is booming as most governments and large organisations gear up for Y2K and beyond, and spend millions upgrading and revamping the IT infrastructure."

"By offering telecommunications solutions through the traditional IT distribution model, Siltek Telecoms is able to offer its resellers better pricing, stock availability and delivery times. In this way, we hope to achieve better market coverage of this largely ignored region," adds van Rooyen.

When Siltek Telecoms became Lucent`s master distributor for South Africa and the sub-Saharan African region, it took over the existing distribution network for this region. This includes resellers in Mauritius, Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ghana. Siltek Telecoms provides its resellers in Africa with sales and technical training, after-sales service and support, as well as deal referrals. In addition, all resellers have access to the Siltek Telecoms logistics infrastructure, as well as the bonded warehouse facility in Midrand.