Chronicle Editor
Michael Magoronga, Midlands Correspondent
A LOCAL information communication technology (ICT) solutions firm, Utande, has embarked on an expansion programme that will see the company penetrating the regional market.
The company already has branches in Harare, Bulawayo, and Mutare and recently opened a new branch in Kwekwe. It also looks to open another branch in Zvishavane.
In a speech during a meet and greet business meeting to mark the official opening of the Kwekwe Branch recently, chief executive officer, Mr Never Ncube, said the company was in the process of laying a fibre connection from Beitbridge to Harare in a bid to improve connectivity.
“We embarked on an US$8 million expansion project to bring infrastructure from Beitbridge to Harare and this is expected to be complete by mid-June,” he said.
“We want to be able to carry our own bandwidth from Beitbridge to Harare with ease.”
Mr Ncube said the company has set its eyes on spreading wings across Southern Africa.
“We are incorporating companies in South Africa, Zambia, Mozambique and Botswana among others so that we can start offering services in those countries,” he said.
“Our vision is obviously going beyond the country’s borders as we look set to spread wings across the Sadc region.”
Mr Ncube said in some countries like South Africa, operations were already going through partnerships with other companies.
He also said they were in the process of acquiring operating licences in Botswana and Zambia.
“We are in the process of acquiring operating licences so that we can start operating in these countries.
“We want to start with satellite services before we move to offer cyber security cloud services then spread to the rest of our services,” said Mr Ncube.
“In Zambia, there is a market study that we carried out and we look set to start operating soon. In Mozambique, we had pulled out due to disturbances in that country but we are at advanced stages of resuming operations very soon.”
He said Utande was ready to play its role in ensuring the nation achieves its digital economy by 2030. Established in 1997, the company is a subsidiary of Dandemutande and offers services ranging from internet, cloud, IT security, and software as well as hardware.
The company employs about 150 employees across the country.
Sidumisile Mabena