SEACOM unveils expansion strategy in Uganda

ICT company SEACOM has unveiled an expansion strategy after acquiring the assets of Africell Uganda Limited that last year exited the Ugandan market.

The company last month announced that in a bid to expand its footprint in the East African region it had acquired Africell assets in Uganda.

Unveiling their expansion strategy on Thursday in Kampala, the Managing Director for SEACOM East Africa, Tejpal Bedi said their expansion strategy has been boosted by the acquisition of critical fibre infrastructural assets to propel their service offering in Uganda.

“East Africa and Uganda have been an important market for SEACOM ever since we first arrived on the shores of Mombasa in 2009.By officially establishing ourselves in Uganda through proprietary facilities and resources, we are prioritizing widespread connectivity and opening up opportunities to work with businesses in search of quality internet services,” Tejpal said.

He explained that they provide wholesale solutions as well as corporate ICT solutions since 2009 and 2018 respectively, noting that the expansion means more products will be provided for their customers.

“Our expansion will now mean that there is more efficient use of our services and the customers will be able to save money while doing their businesses. We will be able to give them better customer service and we will support their improvement among others. The business can now be more efficient and concentrate on their core competency and we are here to support them as a partner.”

He noted that the acquisition of Africell Uganda assets goes hand in hand with their five-year strategy of expanding their footprint in the region.

“For the common person, internet will be faster, reliable and cheaper,” Tejpal said.

Speaking at the same function, Oliver Fortuin, the SEACOM Group CEO noted that their expansion to Uganda will also see more investments into the country as a way of making more significant strides in the economy.

“As part of the regional expansion, we will increase our footprint by adding 760 kilometres of fibre within the Ugandan capital Kampala and surrounding towns, a 250 square metre data centre and office space for our representatives and staff members,” Fortuin said.

He revealed that at the start, the company invested over $2 million to acquire the Africell Uganda assets but noted more will be injected into the Ugandan market.

“It is going to be millions of dollars spent in this market this year but of course we are in for the long-haul and we are to spend many magnitudes of that. We are to spend tens of millions of dollars in this market. Uganda is a real investment destination for us.”

The State Minister for ICT, Godfrey Kabbyanga welcomed the expansion of the company which he said will be of great benefit to Ugandans.

“As many players come into the Ugandan market, the rates will go down because there will be accessibility of internet and data will become affordable. We welcome them here. People now have as many choices and for us that is the best in terms of competition and provision of better services,”Kabbyanga noted.

He added that the expansion of SEACOM will also put a brick on efforts to ensure the growth of Uganda’s economy.