Arivia.kom announced yesterday that it has signed a collaboration agreement with a consortium of Nigerian companies to leverage opportunities for future contracts in Nigeria.
Arivia says the memorandum of understanding was witnessed by a high power delegation of Nigerian government officials and businessmen including Chief Bimbola Ogunkelu, Nigerian minister of integration and co-operation in Africa; Murtala Aliyu, minister of power and steel; Charles E Onwagbu, Nigerian consul general in SA; and Jeff Radebe, South African minister of public enterprises.
The company says this is the third high power meeting it has held with African government officials and businessmen in recent months. The first was a visit by Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika to arivia, and the second a visit by a Senegalese delegation led by the country`s minister of transport, Youssouph Sakho.
Peter Phillips, arivia`s communications manager, says the consortium has a good chance of winning business due to the current belief that "Africans understand what is best for Africa".
However, Phillips is unwilling to disclose which Nigerian businesses are involved in the consortium, saying only that there is private sector involvement.
After a further request for more information about the players in the consortium, arivia replied that disclosure would be unwise for "competitive reasons".
Speaking at the signing with Nigeria, Radebe expressed his support for the collaboration agreement, saying it enabled companies such as arivia to integrate resources with their counterparts in Nigeria and this would help advance the African Renaissance.
Ogunkelu said the role of ICT in world development could not be underplayed and the Nigerian government is committed to bringing together African companies to integrate resources.
"How else can we address poverty if we don`t integrate our resources? There is no resource in the world which is not found in Africa. We have just lacked the ability to work together to utilise these resources in a manner which will propel Africa forward. The 21st Century is for Africa and we have a responsibility to work very hard and we must have the inner strength and energy to claim this century for Africa."
Zeth Malele, CEO of arivia, said businesses had been challenged to support the New Partnership for Africa`s Development (Nepad) to ensure that it became a reality. He added that the agreement is a way in which arivia and the Nigerian consortium could provide economic content to Nepad.
"We all know that we are victims of the digital divide, but we need to get ourselves out of that spot and bridge the digital divide. We want to restore the pride of Africa by leveraging the best of technology," said Malele.
Dr Pat Otumi, a Nigerian entrepreneur and member of the Finance and Business Advisory Group of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, said Nigeria is committed to addressing ICT challenges and would utilise the depth of intellectual property built in SA to the mutual benefit of both countries.
According to Phillips, arivia will actively pursue further African business, focusing on countries that have greater IT capabilities. Phillips says arivia already has a presence in most SADEC countries and other nations such as Zanzibar.
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