Samsung SDS wins African contracts

Nho Hak-myung, left, Samsung SDS’s senior executive, smiles with Zepanias Muhate, vice minister of internal affairs from the Republic of Mozambique, after SDS agreed to supply the African country with computer data systems, last week. / Courtesy of Samsung SDS

By Kim Yoo-chul

Samsung SDS, the information technology solutions affiliate of the Samsung Group, is winning lucrative orders in Africa.

It has been desperate to bolster the company’s international footing and said Sunday it has struck a deal with Mozambique to build an emergency management information system (EMIS).

Under the agreement worth $25 million, SDS will construct the system for the African country’s police and fire departments by the end of February 2014.

``The government offices located in the country’s capital city of Maputo and economic hub of Matola will use the SDS-provided EMIS system,’’ SDS spokeswoman Kim Mi-ri said.

As part of the Korean government’s initiatives for balanced growth between conglomerates and small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), SDS partnered Winitek for the African project. The Export-Import Bank of Korea also made a financial contribution.

EMIS is a computer database system designed to support responders during emergencies by giving them detailed, real-time information, allowing users to graphically integrate it and transmit their decisions through the chain of incident command.

From the perspective of domestic system integrators like SDS, Africa is seen as a region with exponential potential as governments splurge on infrastructure investment there.

Armed with price and quality competitiveness, Korean players are proactively trying to enter the continent at a time when global markets are struggling due to the economic downturn.

Samsung SDS has spearheaded the initiative and Mozambique isn’t the only African country that the firm has its sights on.

Last month, the Seoul-based company agreed to build another social infrastructure project with Kenya worth $5 million.

SDS will help the Kenyan government set up an advanced public key infrastructure (PKI) system. PKI is a scalable way to help secure networks, reduce management overheads and simplify deployment.

On top of the two major projects, the Korean company is working on building procurement systems with the Tunisian and Cameroonian governments.

``Over the past few years, SDS has won deals worth $42 million in Africa. We will be more aggressive in joining big social overhead capital projects on that continent in an attempt to diversify our business portfolio,’’ Kim said.

SDS is aiming for 30 percent of its projected 5 trillion won or some $4.3 billion in revenue from overseas.

It will invest 260 billion won in future business projects, up 40 percent from last year, as it looks to create new opportunities in different markets.

According to an analyst from consultancy Gartner, SDS ranked 36th among the world’s technology solutions providers last year, up from 50th in 2009.