| Special Report Financial Mail |
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| Reaching far and wide |
| It takes a certain amount of pioneering spirit to deal with local conditions
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Technology company Exponªnt is certainly not shy about expanding into the rest of Africa.
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| Cross-border business is not for the fainthearted, but can be very rewarding, says Exponªnt CEO Marius Pels.
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| The rapid growth in Africa's mobile telecommunication sector is fuelling this growth. Exponªnt has been quick to partner several SA and European mobile telecom companies to maintain and erect communication towers.
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| The company is fast building a reputation as one of Africa's leading electronic payment solutions providers for prepaid and contract billing applications. |
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| "In SA, specialised cellular shops are plentiful and airtime is available from supermarkets. But in many parts of rural Africa especially, these concepts don't exist and we might have to install a point-of-sale airtime facility at the local equivalent of a spaza shop," says Pels.
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WHAT IT MEANS |
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Cross-border deals can be rewarding
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Business is booming in Iraq
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| Exponªnt is introducing these payment solutions in Malawi, Gabon, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congo-Brazzaville, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya, Niger, Sierra Leone and Burkina Faso.
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| The key to Exponªnt's success is that it does not try to impose an SA model on other countries, which present different challenges. "By embracing these challenges we have established an admirable track record for ourselves across the continent," Pels says. "There is no question that it takes a certain amount of pioneering spirit to deal with local conditions, but once one understands the social, cultural and economic differences, the payback is enormous," he says. |
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| The problem with some SA businesses is that they try to impose Johannesburg-based solutions on African businesses, he says. "We have developed a good understanding of the African environment. We are therefore able to provide airtime sales solutions wherever the need exists, be it in the deep rural reaches of the Congo or in urban Tanzania". |
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| Pels says that though vast areas of the continent remain largely undeveloped, "certain countries, like Nigeria, are a lot more sophisticated than many SA businessmen give them credit for". |
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| Pels is impressed by the quality of skilled people he's met elsewhere in Africa. |
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| President Thabo Mbeki's trips across the continent are also working in Exponªnt's favour. Whenever the president visits an African country and takes SA corporate leaders with him, it makes the environment more secure for business. |
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| Exponªnt is also among various SA companies doing business in Iraq. Pels acknowledges that conducting business in a war zone is not easy. Its employees have to take precautions, such as not going anywhere without an armed escort. |
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| "Despite the fact that there is a full-scale war going on, business people from all over the world are assisting the Iraqi people in rebuilding the country's infrastructure," says Philip de Wet, manager of the group's African operations. |
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| Even so, the risks are real - for example, two Kenyans who were sharing a villa with De Wet were kidnapped. |
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| Yet it seems business is booming in Iraq, with many foreign contractors looking for opportunities. De Wet says a big advantage in doing business in Iraq is its generally well-educated population, who are willing to embrace new technologies. If Iraq is too hot for SA businesses, says De Wet, they should look at Amman, Jordan, where business opportunities abound. |
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| In addition to the Middle East, Exponªnt is also expanding in the Caribbean. |
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| "It has been our experience that SA business people do well in emerging markets because they are ready to embrace change, unlike their US and European counterparts, who want to impose American and European models on these markets," Pels says. |
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Philip de Wet - Understanding risk |
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