Govt acquires stake in ICT services firm

Business Reporter
GOVERNMENT, through its wholly owned enterprise Zarnet, has acquired a controlling 51 percent stake in fellow information communication services provider, Portnet. The acquisition of Portnet gives Government, including parastatals and State enterprises, an alternative local provider of Systems, Applications and Products (SAPs).

ZARNet is a leading State-owned internet service provider established in 1997. In a joint statement, Zarnet and Portnet said the acquisition provides solution to potential risks noted by ICT Minister Supa Mandiwandira on sensitive State information. Minister Mandiwanzira said that SAP providers could be used as platforms for extracting economic sensitive intelligence against the country if left in the hands of mischievous people.

According to Portnet, every business relies heavily on technology. The more companies and individuals invest in technologies, the more they are vulnerable to security threats such as viruses, worms, hackers and e-crime. Portnet main drive is to ensure provision of “total security assurance to all these people and their businesses”.

“It is expected that with the acquisition, Portnet Software will become the preferred provider of SAP solutions to Government and offer much needed competition in the private sector.” Portnet has plans to expand into other African countries leveraging on its skills and excellent political capital that Zimbabwe enjoys through President Mugabe.

The two firms believe that the acquisition enables the Government to retain skills and jobs and curtails outflow of revenue to foreign service providers. Portnet Software, caters for all public and private application and web development needs ranging from human resource management software, payrolls, billing systems, help desk , record keeping , point of sale systems all the web development software.

Established in 2005 and Portnet provides the full range of SAP software services and solutions in Zimbabwe and across Africa. It has been involved in significant SAP projects, including public finance management systems in Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Kenya. Minister Mandiwanzira last month raised concerns about the use of a single software services provider, following reports the major provider of ICT solutions to the Government, Twenty Third Century Systems, had been acquired by a foreign company.

This followed an announcement by Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed EOH that it would buy between 49 percent and 80 percent of Twenty Third Century Systems and its units. The South African government, through the public investments corporation, is the largest institutional shareholder in EOH and the firm’s chief executive Asher Bohbot, an Israeli, is the largest individual shareholder in the group with 5 percent in the group.

Minister Mandiwanzira said since Twenty Third Century Systems was now owned by a foreigner, it had access to key sensitive economic data, posing threats to national security. He said there was need for multiple suppliers of SAP software and products to mitigate the risk and that his ministry would come up with strategy, already approved by Government.