Nigeria-based Zinox Technologies has been awarded a R1 billion contract by the Nigerian government to provide mobile voting equipment for the January elections.
Zinox is an associate of SA-based Mustek, which has a 12% stake in the company. The Nigerian entity will provide 80 000 direct data capture units. The deal is part of a larger contract in which three companies were tasked with supplying a total of 132 000 units.
Mustek CEO David Kan explains the package comprises a notebook, fingerprint reader, printer, external storage unit, camera and external extended battery, which is contained in a single travel case that enables use in rural areas.
Zinox Technologies is the largest ICT company in west Africa, says Kan. It was jointly founded in 2001 by Mustek, with a 30% shareholding, and Leo Stan Ekeh, a Nigerian businessman who heads up the operation. Mustek later reduced its shareholding to 12%, after the acquisition of majority stakes in TD Technologies and Task Systems.
Kan says the equipment will be sourced from Taiwan and China, and will not be manufactured in SA. “We have manufacturers lined up in Taiwan and China to supply all the components.”
He explains it makes no sense to import goods into SA and then on-sell the items to Nigeria, because this would add more cost to shipping. However, Kan is hopeful the deal will open the door for more orders, which will aid Mustek in bolstering revenue.
Zinox turned over $158 million in the year to March, which led to pre-tax profit of R11.7 million and after-tax earnings of R8 million. The company has its own brand of PCs and notebooks, and made the first Nigerian internationally certified branded computers with the Naira (N) sign on the keyboard.
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