NASSCOM mission to Africa

BUSINESS

NASSCOM, described as the premier trade body and chamber of commerce of India’s IT business process outsourcing industries, will send a delegation to Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana from 14 to 22 September.

The visit is part of NASSCOM’s Global Trade Development Initiative to explore new geographies for its members.

The delegation will be led by Dr. Jai Menon, Group CIO, Bharti Enterprises & Director - Global Innovation & IT, Airtel and by Anil Bakht, Managing Director, Eastern Software Systems.

The emphasis of the NASSCOM delegation will be on creating awareness among the local companies about India, identifying potential companies for partnership and building a long term engagement programme.

NASSCOM says in a statement that Africa has been one of the faster growing markets worldwide in ICT adoption and has the potential of becoming one of the most important markets for the Indian IT industry. 

It says the continent has huge unmet ICT demand, with Africa’s IT market is headed for growth to levels of USD26.53 billion in 2011.

Earlier this year, the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, signed trade and investment deals to expand India's economic footprint on the African continent and also offered a USD5-billion credit line for Africa.

In 2010, a NASSCOM mission to Africa also proved fruitful, with members indicating that they had started participating in tenders and began submitting proposals both in the government sector and non-government sectors.