International Business Machine (IBM), which continues to expand in Africa with new procurement operations to support growing business demand in 17 African countries, has announced the opening of a new procurement centre in Ghana to support IBM’s rapid business growth in Africa.

The centre will lay the foundation for additional industry growth initiatives throughout the continent to serve clients and business partners in Ghana and 16 other African countries.

For more than four decades, IBM has supplied products and solutions to Ghanaian businesses and organizations and continues to work closely with a growing number of business partners in the country. Accra was chosen in response to emerging regional business requirements for high-value procurement services and processes aimed at transforming the delivery of services.

Joe Mensah, General Manager of IBM Ghana, noted that IBM has made substantial investments in Ghana over the past few years in terms of skills development, adding that it sees opportunities for further development as business and government leaders capture the potential of information technology to transform their enterprises and support efforts to build a smarter planet.

Procurement services to support the region will include activities such as purchase order creation, amendments and supplier invoice management, all designed to drive client value, productivity, and effective supplier management.

IBM will recruit local talent to help ensure the development of new skills for a modern workforce and to help stimulate economic growth in the region.

“This centre opening is another example of IBM’s efforts to become the world’s premier globally integrated enterprise,” said Fran O’Sullivan, General Manager, IBM Integrated Supply Chain.

“The expansion of our procurement operations in Ghana will help extend IBM’s business value and service in an important growth market.”

The new procurement centre opening is being announced in conjunction with the launch of the 2011 IBM “Driving Efficeincy” Road-show.

The customer conference will bring nearly 200 IT managers and professionals together to review IBM systems and technology in an effort to drive efficiency and growth for Ghanaian businesses.

IBM previously announced a collaborative partnership with the University of Ghana. Through this partnership, IBM provided educational programming, curricula and technology experts to the university.