The technology company Zoho has partnered with two South African organisations, CodeTelligence and BabesGotByte, to invest in local talent and to decentralise operations from India.
This forms part of a strategy called transnational localism, a term coined by Sridhar Vembu, CEO of Zoho.
The company recognises cultural connections shared by locals and, in SA’s case, this includes a love for a tasty braai.
“We have braai days, so the South African culture is really plugged into it,” said Andrew Bourne, Zoho regional manager for Africa, during a media briefing at the annual user conference Zoholics 2024.
Premanand Velumani, associate director for strategic growth at Zoho MEA, elaborated: “It’s not only about people, but also about different products.”
Commitment to local engagement has contributed to significant growth in SA. The company’s local workforce expanded by 86% last year, achieved a 29% compound annual growth rate over the past three years, and saw a 39% increase in its partner network in 2023.
Velumani told Gadget: “Identifying the problem is our duty at Zoho, and we are going strong in terms of improving the products for what people want in different ecosystems.
“WhatsApp, for example, is big in SA. The people here don’t want to use other software to chat, so we integrated WhatsApp into Zoho Desk.”
Velumani also cited examples like the preference in Spain for Spanish-friendly products and the tendency of Arabic-speaking individuals to favour right-to-left designs, due to the direction of their script.
“We are working on solving the problems, in terms of understanding the local problems that people have. It is about people’s knowhow: their knowledge, and cultural differences, and how everyone works together for one common cause.
“Talent is everywhere, opportunities are not.”
Premanand Velumani, associate director, strategic growth, Zoho MEA.
Zoho’s partnership with CodeTelligence aims to help economically disadvantaged youth enhance their employability through IT skills. The partnership supports a 6-month boot camp for 36 young individuals, providing training in end-user computing, UI/UX design, office administration, and data science.
After the boot camp, students receive six months of offline coaching to prepare them for the workforce as skilled employees. Earlier this year, as part of the Young Creators Program, Zoho conducted train-the-trainer sessions for CodeTelligence teachers, equipping them to teach students how to use Zoho Creator, a low-code app development platform. The partnership aims to equip students with the skills necessary to excel in the digital age and contribute meaningfully to the tech industry.
Zoho’s partnership with BabesGotBytes empowers over 40 girls and women through a comprehensive one-year boot camp focused on digital skills. The initiative is designed to address skills gap and increase female representation in the technology sector by providing rigorous training for workplace readiness.
The programme includes modules on digital literacy, website and mobile app development, UI/UX design, and SQL. Participants engage in hands-on projects, receive mentorship from industry professionals, and gain access to a network of resources to enhance their readiness for both traditional employment and freelance opportunities. By equipping women with both technical expertise and confidence, the collaboration aims to create an inclusive and innovative future in the industry.
Zoho’s upskilling initiatives in Africa include a partnership with MOMO Pencils in Kenya for the Hope for Literacy program, which provides quality education and promotes environmental sustainability. In Kenya, Zoho partnered with J-Hub Africa to train students on its cloud-based business applications. In Nigeria, Zoho collaborated with She Code Africa to conduct train-the-trainer sessions, empowering women to build applications using low-code technology.
The Zoho platform has over 55 apps across several major business categories, used by hundreds of thousands of companies to run their businesses daily, including Gadget.
* Visit the Zoho website here.
* Jason Bannier is a data analyst at World Wide Worx and writer for Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Threads at @jas2bann.