Global IT advisory services firm International Data Corporation (IDC) has facilitated an executive-level meeting in Nairobi Kenya, aimed at linking Egyptian ICT companies under the auspices of Egypt’s Information Technology Industry Development Agency (ITIDA), to counterparts from East and West Africa.
Called ‘Africa Together’, the event took place at Nairobi’s Safari Park Hotel and brought together senior IT professionals from Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and Zambia for a day of intensive executive-level networking, with Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for Information, Communications and Technology, Dr. Fred O. Matiang’i, attending as the guest of honor.
International Data Corporation (IDC) is the premier global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications, and consumer technology markets.
Held under the patronage of Egypt’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, the event provided delegates with a unique platform for discovering the latest global ICT trends and learning from the experiences of their peers across the African continent.
During the course of the day, IDC facilitated a series of one-on-one matchmaking activities that enabled Egyptian ICT providers to hold in-depth discussions with a wide variety of channels and end-user organizations and explore the potential for developing mutually beneficial business partnerships in new markets across East and West Africa.
Economic growth, digital transformation, and foreign investment are increasing across the African continent, with the region’s IT spending growth outpacing the worldwide average by a considerable margin. However, the pace of this growth brings its own challenges, particularly as most of these markets face critical shortages in terms of technology skills, and only a handful of domestic African IT companies can scale sufficiently to support very large, transformative projects. Egypt, by contrast, boasts an abundant and diverse talent pool, cost-effective skills and solutions, and is increasingly being considered as a global player and competitive sourcing destination for the world’s leading corporations.
“By combining IDC’s unrivalled ability to track the latest market developments with ITIDA’s mission to enhance Egypt’s reputation as a global ICT sourcing hub, our joint ‘Africa Together’ initiative is uniquely positioned to facilitate profitable partnerships between Egyptian ICT companies and their counterparts across East and West Africa,” says Jyoti Lalchandani, vice president and managing director at IDC Middle East, Turkey, and Africa. “The overwhelming success of the ‘Go to GCC’ program in 2010 highlights our proven track record in this regard, and our joint efforts here today have enabled more than 50 handpicked African ICT solution providers and decision makers to bridge the skills and solutions gaps that exist in their own markets.”
As one of the fastest growing global outsourcing and offshoring markets, Egypt has seen its local ICT capabilities expand rapidly over recent years, driven by the government’s pro-technology stance, investments by multinational ICT solution providers looking to use Egypt as an offshore IT services delivery hub, and growing demand for the latest information technologies from a wide range of private sector entities. The country’s evolution into a global ICT sourcing destination hinges on the provenability of Egyptian ICT companies to embrace a solution-oriented approach to their engagements and introduce introduce innovative, cost-effective, and relevant IT solutions that cater directly to the particular needs of their clients.
