VENTURES AFRICA – Avaya, a global business communications and services company, has opened shop in Nigeria as part of its expansion plan in Africa. The group also plans to extend its operation to Ghana in a bid to offer next-generation business solutions on the continent.
The group’s office which was inaugurated over the weekend will support local customers, cater to needs of its nearby partners, and effectively manage businesses in Lagos and surrounding areas while providing state of the art next-generation business collaboration and communications solutions, unified communications, real-time video collaboration, contact centers, networking solutions and related services to firms of all sizes throughout the continent.
Managing Director, North, West, East, and Central Africa, for Avaya, Mr. Hatem Hariri said the firm sees tremendous opportunities in investing in local talent and partners to assist in not only identifying new business opportunities but expanding its regional customer base.
According to Hariri, “Nigeria is a critical market for Avaya. It harbors thousands of businesses and organisations and has one of the largest populations in Africa with close to 162 million people. The capital Lagos alone has a population of 7 million, which also houses over 100 international business and organizations. The Nigerian office will be the fourth office placed in Africa, following Kenya, Egypt and South Africa. Its major functions will be to offer customer service, as well as marketing and sales and the opportunity to service the West African market.”
The company also sees potential growth in Ghana as it identified that “Ghana is a key market for Avaya because it harbors a number of new businesses and organizations, the capital Accra alone has a population of two million, which also houses a growing number of international businesses and organizations.”
In Ghana, Avaya will sell directly to their customers, provide unified communications services, contact centers, networking and related services to companies of all sizes around the world and through their local partners.
The company revealed that it has also signed a five-year multi-million dollar deal with Airtel to manage its contact centres across 16 countries across Africa.
Hariri said the objective of this expansion initiative is to bring Avaya closer to local African customers and channel partners.
“Africa remains a key market for Avaya, and expanding our presence to one of the most populated cities in the continent reinforces our local support to customers as well as partners. It will also give Avaya an opportunity to expand and provide solutions to the West African market. Nigeria remains a strong driver and an example of the wider regional Information Technology (IT) market. Avaya is committed to supporting the countries growth by enabling organisations in all sectors benefits with our world-class collaboration solutions.”
By expanding its presence to one of the major cities in Africa, he said, “Avaya upholds their commitment to local customers and stakeholders in the IT market. Avaya’s is also able to continue its commitment to bring The Power of We™ to every Avaya customer, helping businesses to drive faster collaboration, smarter decisions and better business results.”
He said the company’s next generation unified communication services can enable businesses improve employee productivity, customer service and reduce costs by integrating multiple forms of communications, including telephony, e-mail, instant messaging and video.
Hariri explained that with the growing number of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across Nigeria, Avaya can address the communications challenges facing SMEs with its award winning Avaya IP (Internet Protocol) office.
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