Sage Pastel, the continent's leading developer of accounting and business software, opened its new offices and training centre in Nairobi, Kenya, last week. The new headquarters will provide the full suite of Sage Pastel's programs and technical support for the East African market.
The launch is a culmination of the company's 10-year presence in the East African region, and the offices and resources will be shared with Sage VIP Payroll, also part of the international Sage Group.
Sage Pastel already has an East African customer base of four thousand businesses, and over the last two years has experienced year-on-year regional growth of 20%. Nikki Summers, the East African regional manager for Sage International, says: “It was a natural progression to invest in enhancing the customer experience and to grow the Pastel market share.”
Sage Pastel, part of the London listed Sage Group, has invested heavily in resources to ensure the success of the venture for both current and new customers. Strong development teams have been created specifically to support the unique software requirements of the East African market, and the fully fledged training centre will ensure that customers have access to local support and technical skills.
Globally, Sage Pastel is actively involved in the development of small and medium-sized businesses, and East Africa is no exception. Summers says: “Often mid-sized organisations are not fully recognised for the contribution they make to a country's GDP, especially in tough economic times. A stronger Pastel presence in the region will go a long way to providing the much needed support SMEs require to enhance their profile.”
Already, Pastel has partnered with KPMG and National Media to produce the East African Top 100 Companies survey, which assesses the penetration of SMEs in Kenya by tracking local trends and uncovering the issues they face.
Current survey results reported that 93% of Kenyan businesses use accounting software and that 95% of businesses are already using computers and Internet infrastructure for daily transactions and business management.
The number of Kenya's Internet users has risen dramatically over the last four months, increasing by 11.4% to 8.69 million people. Managing director of Sage Pastel, Steven Cohen, believes that greater Internet penetration will change the way local businesses operate. “The increase in speed, accessibility, mobility, convenience and effectiveness of the Internet means that using online business applications like customer relationship management, business intelligence and enterprise resource planning will surely gain popularity.”
With official offices and a training centre in Nairobi, Sage Pastel is in a good position to meet new market trends, while supporting local SMEs with the best in cutting-edge technology and service delivery. Summers concludes: “We are now fully equipped to build a Sage community in East Africa and intend to be the market leader within this region.”
Sage Pastel's offices are now located at 4th floor, Navina Towers, Westlands Road, Westlands, Nairobi, and can be contacted on Eastafrica@sagepastel.com.
Share