Internet Solutions (IS) is aiming to accelerate its growth beyond South Africa’s borders by establishing a new division, IS International.
The new unit will provide significant additional support and investment to the group’s existing operations in Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Mozambique. With pan-African expansion in mind, the information and communications technology company also plans to establish further sales and operational presences in the largely untapped markets of Angola, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
To fully harness the business opportunities in Africa, IS will augment its existing London office by opening new sales offices in North America and Australia, with offices to be opened in other selected countries over time. These sales offices will work with wholesale and multinational clients that are eager to expand into Africa and need a globally experienced and reliable ICT partner on the ground. The offices will also help African clients to expand their communications internationally thanks to the global presence of IS.
To ensure the new division is fully funded and properly resourced, IS International will be established as a focused business unit responsible for executing on these initiatives. It will be led by Tony Walt, who will become MD of IS International from January 2012. Walt will report to Derek Wilcocks, the MD of IS.
Wilcocks says Tony Walt is the best person to head the group’s international expansion given his 15 years of experience in helping IS’ clients in South Africa with all their communications needs. ‚Tony understands that Africa is a tough market and needs sound resilient IT solutions,‚ Wilcocks said.
The new structure would give foreign companies a trusted and experienced partner able to provide all their communication needs across various African countries, Walt said. It would also be better equipped to help its existing African clients expand internationally through this new structure. ‚We are very excited to firm up our expansion plans into Africa and to ensure we help global companies to capitalise on the great business opportunities within our continent,‚ Walt said.
Walt’s current responsibilities in South Africa will be divided between Costa Koutakis and Tony Koutakis, both of whom have been with IS for more than 10 years and have ample experience in managing all aspects of client engagement. Costa Koutakis will become Chief Client Officer and Tony Koutakis will become the Chief Sales Officer
The country managers of the group’s existing operations in the UK, Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya and Mozambique will report directly to Tony Walt in his new role as MD of IS International.
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