Nigeria's Omatek Computers opens branch in Ghana

(From Mohammed Nurudeen Issahaq, GNA Special Correspondent, Lagos. Courtesy Omatek Computers Limited)

Lagos, Dec. 28, GNA - Nigeria-based Omatek Computers Limited, the first factory in Africa to produce locally assembly computer systems, will inaugurate its Ghana branch in Accra in January 2007. Mrs. Florence Seriki, Managing Director of the Company, announced this at a pre-launch tour of the factory in Lagos last weekend. The event which was attended by a Ghanaian delegation led by Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim, Deputy Minister of Communications, was meant to give the Ghanaian public a feel of the Company's activities, as well as provide a hint about what to expect when the Company commences full operation in the country in a couple of months. Also in attendance was Nigeria business executives, engineers, bankers and government officials.

The Managing Director took the visitors on a tour of the facility, explaining the various production stages of the factory, which currently rolls out about 48,000 fully built computers per annum. On the rationale for expanding her Company's horizons into Ghana, the incredibly youth Managing Director and 2005 West African Magazine's Dr Kwame Nkrumah Excellence in Enterprise Award winner said it was borne out of her desire to give the Ghanaian computer market an African brand. "Having depended on mainly foreign brands all these years, I think time is ripe for us in Africa to begin to have confidence in our own competences and our local products," Mrs Seriki declared. She indicated that the only way African countries could catch up with the rest of the world on the information superhighway was to step up efforts at making computers more affordable and accessible to the citizenry.

In this regard, and in line with the personal principle of empowering the youth through technology transfer, Omatek invites student excursions into the factory as well as taking up students to pursue practical attachment programmes there on a sustainable basis, the Managing Director added. She disclosed that the Company presently employed more than 300 Nigerians in its operations, and that one of the major contributions she hoped to bring to the Ghanaian economy was that of providing employment opportunities for the people.

Dr Benjamin Aggrey Ntim praised Omatek's role in placing Nigeria among Africa's pioneers in ICT, describing the Company's achievements as "simply outstanding." He pledged the Ghana government's preparedness to collaborate fully with Omatek to enhance computer literacy in the country. The Chairman of Omatek's Board of Directors, Mr Fola Adeola, said the Company's decision to open a branch in Ghana was a natural one, considering the close historical and cultural ties between the two countries. He urged Ghanaians to seize the opportunity to build a knowledge-based society.