Africa and India: A view from IT industry's map

MUMBAI, INDIA: India is the fourth largest trade partner with Africa, behind China, EU and the US, the business between the two geographies is only bound to increase. As of 2011-12, the volume of bilateral trade between India and Africa is around USD 50 billion and expected to touch USD 90 billion by 2015.

Entering a new market always has its set of challenges so it is essential to get the market entry strategy "first time right". Africa Market in many ways is like the Indian market, very price sensitive and relationship driven. One of the best strategies to enter into this market is to get into Business Partnerships with local firms who are already entrenched and are looking to expand. This is a win-win situation for both parties involved as the new entrant gets access to the market through a known entity and the local business get exposure to international best practices. In Africa, one must be careful to not enter into partnerships only for profits, there has to be an element of knowledge-sharing which can help the local population gain insights into best Industry practices. There is a lot of emphasis on improving knowledge and up-skilling of the local population and Business Partnerships which do both will eventually be successful.

Till a couple of years ago most of the demand in the IT sector was coming from developed nations like the US and Europe. The entire focus of the Indian IT sector was focused towards US and Europe with Africa largely being ignored. It was only after the recession hit most parts of the developed world that people started looking towards Africa as it was growing at a steady pace even when the rest of the world was going down. Organizations like Nihilent who had seen the potential of Africa many years ago invested in the continent much earlier than the rest and are gaining rich benefits. This is mainly because a lot of time and effort has been spent in understanding the market and building mutually beneficial relationships with local entities. Our main thrusts have been to train and up skill the local staff in any country and execute projects with a mixed team composition.

This helps in strengthening the relationship with the local partner and gives back to the country by training its people. With more and more companies investing in the booming markets of Africa, early movers in such markets with comprehensive market knowledge and insights are proving to be the preferred partners of choice of global players for entering into profitable partnerships. Nihilent has worked with the largest Banks in Africa starting with the top four Banks of South Africa. In terms of the African Market, one has to "prove" its credentials by working with large organizations in South Africa as it considered as a bench mark for other African countries. Nihilent has also expanded in the African continent by spreading out in East, West and Central Africa apart from the main stay of the market which is South Africa. Its patented Change Management Framework (MC3 ) has helped organizations transform and is also being taught at its top business schools as an African business transformation case study.

In addition, Nihilent has worked with a number of government organisations to design their five-year strategic plans and then help them implement. Our presence is in Sub-Saharan Africa with focus on West, East and Southern Africa.

(Ravi Teja is VP, Global Consulting at Nihilent Technologies. The views expressed here are of the author and CyberMedia/CIOL do not necessarily share or subscribe to them.)