Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omane-Boamah, has commended Dimensions Data, a global ICT solutions and service provider, for spreading out into Ghana.

Recounting the “humble” beginnings of the South African company at a ceremony to launch their operations in Ghana last week, the Minister recalls that the first decade of Dimension Data’s history was characterised by strong domestic growth as they became a home-grown success story in the South African market and subsequently got listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in 1987.

“Thirty years down the line, Dimension Data counts 23,000 employees, including 5,000 in Africa and the Middle East, 58 countries on 5 continents, and one passion: to find ways to use ICT to make their clients’ businesses work better”, the Minister said.

He said the entry of the South African IT company was “smartly opportunistic” and urged them to invest in Ghana as they have done in other countries.

Dimension Data recently started operations in Ghana to increase its presence in West Africa.

The Group has been operating in the West African market for a decade with an operation in Nigeria.Hitherto, it operated in Ghana through Internet Solutions Company.

"We're very excited to be expanding our African footprint. The market in West Africa is growing and Ghana is going to play a key role in our growth journey. We look forward to working closely with our clients and partners in Ghana and develop locally relevant solutions to help clients accelerate their business ambitions," said Glad Dibetso, Managing Director, West Africa at Dimension Data.

Speaking to JOY BUSINESS at the opening of the Ghana office, Rakesh Parbhoo, Executive for Emerging Markets at Dimension Data says internet penetration in the country has reached levels that make it important for the country to start reaping its benefits.

“There's a lot of research done around how internet penetration and internet capacity actually has an impact on GDP. This will bring new type of business, it will change the way institutions and companies do business with businesses, the way they do business with their customers, the way the government connects to its citizens.

“And already we're hearing stories about how everything that used to be difficult, getting passports and drivers licences will now be something you can do online from home without having to travel long distances to be able to go and spend time queuing to get these things. Internet banking is quite prevalent throughout the world, more and more that is happening on the mobile new technologies” he noted.

Dimension Data is a $5.8 billion global systems integration business that specializes in technology solutions and services for both local and multinational clients.

The company founded in 1983 is a member of the NTT Group. 

Dr Omane-Boamah informed the managers of Dimensions Data that the IT ecosystem in Ghana was booming and has been a major driver of Ghana’s economy.

“I look forward to your team delivering innovative services to organisations in Ghana, turning their ambitions into achievements, and thus contributing to the transformation of the lives of our citizens, growth of our economy and to large extent Africa’s transformational agenda”, Dr Omane-Boamah stated.