As telecommunications and network enterprise solutions provider Seacom celebrates its thirteenth birthday, the company continues to implement the ambitious five-year strategy, adopted last year, that enabled real headway to be made in expanding its services across Africa.
“The future is looking bright for the company’s prospects as the company continues its positive impact on the continent,” says Seacom CEO Oliver Fortuin, noting that, over the past year, Seacom achieved several high-profile milestones that speak to the company’s journey to becoming a fully converged telecommunications organisation.
Following the appointment of Fortuin in early 2021, Seacom implemented the five-year strategy to enable the company to grow its continental presence both organically and through strategic acquisitions.
Seacom’s acquisitions over the past year include Kenyan service provider Hirani Telecom’s metropolitan fibre network in Nairobi and Africell network assets in Uganda.
“These mark a turning point for Seacom in East Africa, as the deployment of new and existing infrastructure will further enable existing clients and help propel economic and business growth in their respective regions.”
In February, Seacom announced plans to acquire selected infrastructure assets from Africell, in Uganda, to further expand its East African footprint.
Local PresenceIn line with Seacom’s five-year strategy to expand operations in the region, the acquisition will provide the company, which has provided wholesale solutions to Uganda since its inception in 2009 and corporate solutions since 2018, with a greater local presence.
Through the new transaction, Seacom will take over a comprehensive portfolio of infrastructure essential for connecting enterprise customers, including 760 km of fibre in the Ugandan capital city of Kampala and surrounding towns, a 250 m2 data centre and office space for Seacom representatives and staff members.
The service provider has a large footprint in Uganda’s financial services sector and works with government and nongovernmental organisations, including those in the education, technology and hospitality sectors.
In October, Seacom completed the 100% acquisition of Hirani Telecom’s metropolitan fibre network, which will be incorporated into Seacom’s existing network in Nairobi, and will be under its full control.
“The acquisition of Hirani’s metropolitan fibre network dramatically boosts Seacom’s operations and sets the stage for the expansion of our business services in the region,” says Seacom chief sales and marketing officer Steve Briggs.
“Seacom Kenya has been using Hirani’s metropolitan network to provide last-mile services to our enterprise customers. As the only provider on this network, it was a natural progression for us to buy the network and cut out the middleman. This will give us a competitive advantage in the market and will enable us to offer our customers better services and tailored solutions,” explains Fortuin.
Meanwhile, in South Africa, Seacom acquired technology services company EOH’s Network Solutions (EOH-NS) and Hymax businesses after receiving approval, without conditions, from the Competition Commission in July.
This followed the April 6 agreements to sell the subsidiaries, which operate under EOH Group’s information and communication technology (ICT) division iOCO, for R144.9-million.
“The acquisition of EOH-NS and Hymax forms part of Seacom’s ambitious growth strategy that will transform the business into a converged telecommunications provider across Africa,” says Fortuin.
“By expanding our on-net capabilities and reach with this acquisition, and the acquisition of Hirani Telecom and Africell Uganda’s infrastructure, Seacom aims to provide customers with comprehensive enterprise-grade ICT solutions and quality connectivity.”
Plans are now under way to integrate the companies under the Seacom banner.
The numerous acquisitions, alongside Seacom’s launch of flagship products, such as SD-WAN and DDoS, over the past year, is a “testament to its drive” to enable enterprises and build scalable and reliable infrastructure.
“This time next year, [we] will have changed even more. We are continuing to make real headway in achieving our goal to expand our services in Africa,” says Briggs.