Multinational company Tata, is looking to take its business on the African continent to the next level, focusing on Ghana and other countries in three regions.
Specifically, Tata Group would be targeting Southern Africa, with a focus on South Africa, Eastern Africa, and in particular Kenya and Ethiopia, and West Africa, where the company would focus on Nigeria and Ghana, besides others.
Tata Sons business development and public affairs head Madhu Kannan said in India, where the global enterprise is headquartered, that while the group had worked on the continent for almost 40 years, “the game right now is to see if we can build scale”.
“We have been there for a long time, but the point is, how we can take it to the next level,” he said.
To achieve this, the group would leverage its current businesses in African countries in a more structured manner, Mr. Kannan said, noting that the company had decided on this prioritisation strategy about a year ago.
“Africa is big market, with a lot of good services that can be sold into the market. The continent is still in the early stages of development and there are a lot of services that we are able to successfully provide in markets like India that can be applicable there,” he said.
Mr. Kannan said the company would initially focus on the three regions to grow its business on the continent.
He said that the company would look to work more broadly on the continent; however, prioritisation was necessary to kickstart the process.
“We can’t afford to be in 50 countries at once,” he said, adding that different Tata operating companies would focus on different regions.
Further, Mr. Kannan said the group had identified three broad sectors that offered “interesting opportunities” for the group in Africa, namely automotive, trading and infrastructure.
The company would also keep the consumer space in mind, however, the focus on this sector would not receive the same amount of intense focus.
Tata Africa Holdings, a subsidiary of Tata International, was established in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1994, as the main promoter company of the Tata Group in Africa.
The company is responsible for identifying development opportunities and promoting new projects.
It operates in several business sectors across Africa and has entered into joint ventures and partnerships with several African companies. It has offices in Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Madagascar, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.
Employing over 1,500 people, the company operates in many industrial sectors, among them automobiles, steel and engineering, chemicals, information technology, hospitality, food and beverages and farming. The company is also interested in energy and mining. Some of the major companies operated by Tata Africa Holdings are: Tata Ghana, Tata Zambia, Tata Zimbabwe, Tata Holdings Moçambique Lda, Tata Holdings (Tanzania) and Tata Africa Holdings (SA).
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