The IT companies in India are eyeing $35 billion opportunities in the burgeoning African market to expand business as they aim to reduce dependence on the U.S. and the U.K. markets, which presently accounts for about 80 per cent of their revenues.
“Africa presents a huge opportunity for us. There are 50 plus countries with a population of over one billion people. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is seen as a catalyst for development and is high on the agenda of many African governments,” Shivendra Singh, VP - Global Trade Development, National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom) told The Hindu .
He added that the African ICT market is estimated to be over $35 billion currently.
“A lot of large infrastructure projects are coming up in Africa and hence a lot of demand will be created for IT services. It’s a big opportunity for Indian companies and a lot of them are looking at forming partnerships in the region. Besides, there are other verticals such as healthcare and e-governance where Indian IT companies can contribute,” Mr. Singh said.
According to Nasscom, the partnership will help Indian companies “de-risk from over dependence on the English speaking markets” and it will enable African countries to leverage the maturity of Indian companies, at the same time given them access to large pool of specialist manpower at the mid management level.
Nasscom, in association with Telecom Equipment & Services Export Promotion Council and the Government of India is also organising a two-day Indo-Africa ICT expo in Nairobi, Kenya on September 28-29. The event, in which over a 100 companies will be participating, will focus on how African countries can use Indian IT’s domain knowledge to build an inclusive IT ecosystem.
The delegation from India will be headed by Telecom and IT Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad. Telecom Secretary Rakesh Garg is also likely to be present at the event.
This article has been corrected for a factual error.
