JSE-listed Jasco aims to grow revenue from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from 7% to between 20% and 25%, “as soon as possible”.
Jasco CEO Pete da Silva says when he took over the reins at the company, in July last year, Jasco only earned 7% of its income from the region. He aims to grow this to 20% before earning as much as 40% to 50% in years to come.
The group is targeting countries for opportunities and has gone through the paper case already, says Da Silva. Jasco is now seeking partnerships for joint ventures, or entities to acquire.
Da Silva says Jasco is taking “very small steps, like the guy who landed on the moon”. It first aimed to sort out its national footprint and digest Spescom, before moving north of SA's borders, he notes. Jasco bought Spescom towards the end of 2010.
Based on Da Silva's time with Siemens, where he was CEO before moving to the A1 Grand Prix, he decided not to “pay school fees again”, but put his experiences into practise.
Daily bread
The group's presence in Southern Africa had largely been project-driven and opportunistic, says Da Silva. He points out that this was not a sustainable growth path and he wants to do Monday-to-Monday business on the continent.
Da Silva likes East Africa “on paper” and Jasco's first aim was to go up the east coast, before looking at Central Africa and then West Africa. He adds that Angola is attractive, but would require “a lot of energy”.
However, opportunities do not come in the order in which they have been plotted, says Da Silva. In June last year, Jasco Networks expanded its operations into Central Africa with the formation of Jasco Congo, a subsidiary company with dedicated presence and local shareholders in the region.
Jasco Congo has signed a partnership agreement with Warid Congo to manage and maintain a carrier-neutral co-location data centre in Congo-Brazzaville.
Da Silva says the group now has the fundamentals in place and can offer its services to corporations, the oil industry and the telecoms sector. He adds that Jasco Congo is in talks with the regulator to establish the country's first data exchange and will establish relationships with local partners.
Jasco Congo will be used as a stepping stone to intensify the presence of its three verticals - ICT Solutions, Industry Solutions and Energy Solutions - into the region.
Da Silva would like to enter East Africa next, through a partnership. “But you never know what can happen.”
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