India continues its commitment for development of ICT sector in Africa

NEW DELHI: India’s Telecom Export Promotion Council (TEPC), in conjunction with NASSCOM & ICT Authority of Kenya embarked on the 2nd edition of the Indo-Africa ICT Expo at KICC, Nairobi.

This event is supported by Government of India and Government of Kenya as well. The event was inaugurated by the India’s Minister of Communications  Manoj Sinha and Minister of ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru.

The event is aimed at enhancing cooperation between African countries and India in the area of ICT technology. The event also saw attendance of various senior Government officials from neighboring countries and included South Sudan’s Deputy Minister of ICT & Postal Services, Akol Paul Kordit with a big delegation,Uganda’s Principal Secretary, ICT, Dr Jimmy Pat Saamanya, and Malawi’s Secretary of ICT and Civic Education, Justin AdackK Saidi.

The event also saw participation from business leaders from India, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, UK, Israel, South Sudan, Rwanda, Mauritius and Commonwealth Telecom Organization.

Inaugurating this event, Minister of Communications from India stated “I strongly believe that India has a vast experience in setting up of ICT infrastructure and the experience can be leveraged by Government as well as private sector in African Nations. To explore synergies on the ground, I have with me about 100 ICT companies from India participating in this event that will facilitate growth of business opportunities in our nations.”

Sinha stressed on the fact that India as a country has conditions similar to those in the African Nations and also has special ties with East African countries. Together India sees many opportunities for cooperation and transfer of expertise in the areas of setting ICT infrastructure, solutions and application development, skill development and innovation that can be leveraged by the Governments as well as private sector in the continent and India is keen to find ways to increase the business between India and Africa in ICT sector.

Joe Mucheru called upon Kenyan businesses to tap into the huge reservoir of knowledge among their Indian counterparts and develop technology based solutions for the Kenyan, African and even the global market. He also noted that there are numerous opportunities for partnerships between both public and private sectors of Kenya and India. He further stated that India and Africa continue to witness exponential growth in the telecommunication and information technology segments. It is thus essential to evaluate the areas where the two regions can cooperate so as to further enhance the lives of our people through technology.

The second edition of the Indo-Africa ICT Expo cum Conference sees more than 100 ICT companies participating from India showcasing their latest products and solutions to explore synergies on ground. The delegation comprises of heads and senior officials from Govt. and private companies.

A key highlight of the event on 1st September 2016, was the ICT Ministers Round Table Meeting on ‘Digital Dreams of the Developing Nations’, wherein ICT Ministers/Secretaries leading high level Government & business delegations from India, Kenya, South Sudan, Uganda and Malawi participated. Government to Government bilateral talks were also held between Indian Government and official government delegations from Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and South Sudan.

In the background of over 100 Indian technology companies showing their latest products and solutions at the Indo-Africa ICT Expo cum Conference and packed Conference hall, Vice Chairman TEPC on behalf of the industry stated“Africa is one of the fastest growing ICT markets and its requirements are similar to Indian eco system. With India’s strength in ICT, strong Government commitment and financing support India can be trusted as a long term partner. We believe that Indian companies have an advantage in emerging markets like Africa, since they already have the experience of successfully tackling similar business challenges, competitive pressures and harsh operating environments in India.”

NASSCOM while talking about the event said, “Africa is turning into one of the fastest growing regions in the world, offering huge domestic market potential and growing economically at more than 5% per year. This event only reiterates the fact that India and Africa are well on their way to collaborate and become the next global leaders in technology.Africa is turning into one of the fastest growing regions in the world, offering huge domestic market potential and growing economically at more than 5% per year. During the last two years, the focus has been on SME sector engagement and a number of the participating delegate companies have achieved their biggest success in Africa.”

The Indo-Africa ICT Expo 2016 is the second edition of the annual event, and is being held in Nairobi from 1st September to 3rd September 2016. The sessions in Conference were aligned with theme of the event “Digital Dreams of Nation”. The event was attended by over 2500 visitors and over 300 conference delegates with a world class speaker panel. The Expo is designed to be a platform to build synergy among India & African countries to showcase innovative & diversified Products & Services and to bring together thought leaders across the entire ICT value chain to discuss solutions to regulatory and business.

The event also had more than 400 Business to Business meetings between Indian and African countries. The event saw very large no of business enquiries. There were already more than 10 MoUs and more than Rs. 40 Crore worth of business. In addition there are demand for setting up of training centre and technology transfer.

Telecommunication Equipment & Services Export promotion Council (TEPC), India also organizes BuyerSeller Business Meets in New Delhi also where potential buyers from across the globe are invited to meet the telecom equipment and services suppliers of India to develop long term business relations. The event for 2016 has been planned from 3rd to 5th October 2016 in New Delhi and Bangalore respectively. Mr. Sinha invited the large business delegations from participating countries to join for the event in India so that business contacts developed in Nairobi get translated to business.

Organizer of the event, Telecom Equipment and Services Export Promotion Council (TEPC), India has been set up by the Government of India to promote and develop export of Telecom Equipment and Services from the country. TEPC as a Council plays a critical role in furtherance of Telecom exports from India and assists Indian member companies in easy facilitation of their respective exports. The Council caters to the complete Telecom Ecosystem including Telecom Hardware Manufacturing, Telecom Service Provision, Telecom Software, and Consultancy. TEPC recognizes the strengths of building a design-led manufacturing ecosystem for telecom products and the Government is committed to further support in the creation of domestic products and enables manufacturing with high domestic value-addition. India is poised for another digital revolution given the massive thrust on “Make in India” initiative & launch of “Digital India”, which creates a large opportunity for ICT sector.