Okoh Aihe
24 March 2008
NIGERIA'S premier computer brand, Zinox, has got N3.5 billion new fund injection in a move the owners said would help meet the demand of a responsive market to position the brand as the computer of first choice across the West African sub-region.
"We are ambitious and want to change the landscape in 18 months," Mr. Leo Stan Ekeh, Chairman of Zinox Computers told Vanguard.
The fresh fund is coming from the three main owners: Stan Technologies of Nigeria, Mustek of South Africa and Alhaner Ventures of France.
After a board meeting of the company directors in Lagos, David Khan of Mustek South Africa voiced the confidence of the investors when he hailed the Nigerian market for delivering the numbers, promising that the directors would continue to put more funds until they achieve the company of their dream that will be a major stimulus to the growth of the ICT sector in the country.
Apart from growing the market and acquiring more technologies that will make the Zinox systems more robust, a major concern being addressed is the rate at which computers will be available to buyers.
The new fund will also allow Zinox to give out computers at interest-free rate and thus encourage computer penetration and usage across the country.
Giving reasons for the new venture, Ekeh told Vanguard: "We are set to launch interest-free computer ownership scheme to Nigerians.
After a successful launch of Zinox Student Computer Ownership (ZSCOP), and the current Computer Discount Scheme currently funded by a Nigerian philanthropist, few foreign interests have approached Zinox to use us as a credible platform to really test the reliability of the Nigerian consumer when it comes to items bought on credit.
Zinox has been selected as a platform to increase IT penetration in West Africa and we are now working out the modalities. Ultimately, Zinox hopes to achieve an offer of Zero interest for those Nigerians who are qualified," he said.
Currently running neck to neck with HP on market share, according to figures by the International Data Corporation (IDC) of the United States, and the only Microsoft certified OEM in West Africa, Zinox in the explanation of Ekeh is currently building the largest computer assembly in the whole of Africa, and hopes to launch a major software company in partnership with some Asians by 2009.
He explained that by way of preparing for the expansion and rising demand, Zinox was investing heavily in human capital. "We have just hired over 40 new graduates for the first phase and they are all Nigerians," he said.
Khan remarked that what Zinox is doing is the only way for African countries to witness growth, when they are able to retain talents and skills within their countries.
"One of the things that African countries need to do is the need for skills to stay in the country. Like the BEE - Black Economic Empowerment - which encourages local skills and economic participation in South Africa, local empowerment is critical to the success of any economy," Khan explained.
Ekeh said for a fresh graduate to play a role in Zinox, that graduate would have to be retrained by the company for at least nine months.
Zinox started operation 2001 as the first internationally certified brand of Nigerian computers. By the end of the year the company hopes to expand its support network to 20 locations across the West African sub-region.
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