CS Holdings has identified Africa as a key target market for its integrated solutions, and has already made significant inroads North of the Limpopo and continues to do so, according to CS Holdings executive director, Dave Vink. "The public sector is a key target throughout the region, as Africa`s economic growth will depend largely on any given government`s ability to administer and grow its economy and infrastructure effectively," he says.
CS Holdings already boasts a number of successful projects on the continent, including an outsourcing contract with the Chevron oil group in Angola, a multi-disciplinary project for the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority in Ethiopia, a factory automation contract for the Marromeu Sugar Mill in Northern Mozambique, and an information delivery system at Debswana Diamond Mines in Botswana. The company is also currently bidding for other contracts in Uganda, Namibia and Nigeria.
"We understand African conditions and challenges better than our European and US competitors, and can therefore tailor our solutions and pricing models more appropriately," says Vink. "Testimony to this fact is the work we are doing as far afield as Luanda, Addis Ababa and even into the Middle East, among other places."
He believes that apart from infrastructural challenges, Africa is faced with a critical skills shortage and is consequently unable to effectively support its IT systems. "Most African organisations have long been isolated from international best practices and global trends, and new implementations usually need to be accompanied by an extensive change navigation process, which differs greatly from those implemented in US and European companies," he explains.
Being in the same time zone as other African countries also counts in CS Holdings` favour. "Companies that rely on the US for support have to wait until after business hours to sort out any problems, which increases down time and reduces productivity and profits," Vink explains. "It is crucial that the benefits of the projects we do in Africa are sustainable for our clients, so we not only offer remote support from SA but, where possible, also establish a local support infrastructure and train clients` employees in the relevant skills to ensure that they are able to exploit these benefits in the long-term."
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CS Holdings is one of SA`s leading business consulting and IT services firms. It tailors business solutions from a broad suite of integrated service offerings across the range of processes, people and technology requirements.
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