C.a.T.S to launch In Nigeria

Telephone communication expert Computer Assisted Telephony Systems (CaTS), which generates 80% of its income from African countries, is to open  offices in Lagos, Nigeria, by the end of the year.

The company, one of a number of active business partners for IBM’s lotus Foundations Start solution – a version of Lotus specifically aimed at the small and medium enterprise business market – already has offices in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.

Johan Grobler, MD of CaTS, said the company anticipated spending in the region of R1 million to set up the Nigeria offices. “Nigeria is the second biggest economy in Africa after SA and we are currently short listed for a tender that, if we win it, will generate revenue of around R30 million for us. This is one of the reasons we decided to open up in Lagos. We also believe their telecommunications industry offers a lot of potential for us.”

Currently the company is using Tanzania as a launch pad into other African countries. “Our telecommunication solutions are well suited to he African market and, I believe, are also priced right. I think it is very likely that we will continue to earn the bulk of our revenue from countries outside of South Africa.”

CaTS’  is active in countries that include Lesotho, Nigeria,the DRC and Tanzania.

Grobler also said the company is working “closer and closer” with IBM.

“We also work with IBM from a unified communications point of view – as we are essentially telephony experts. But we found that our expertise fits perfectly with IBM’s Lotus solution, especially the IBM Lotus Foundation Start solution, which is expected to be a big boon to smaller companies. It is one of our core product offerings right now. We launched in SA and Tanzania recently.”