Graphics solutions vendor ATi is on the lookout for potential partners in Africa. Rauf Baig, managing director at ATi Middle East is building up contact with African distributors and system builders as the first step in the evolution of the vendor’s channel strategy to serve the continent.
“According to IDC, the African market is growing pretty fast,” explained Baig. “Our focus on East and West Africa including countries such as Kenya and Nigeria will increase. We have a good channel infrastructure in place in the Middle East and have launched partner programmes here. Now we need to start replicating that in Africa.”
Baig met up with several potential distribution and system builder partners from Africa at the recent Digital Business Channel event held in Fujeirah, UAE, and will now look to develop these leads into long-term business relationships.
“I met one A-brand PC distributor from East Africa now considering developing its own white box operation and that is interesting for us,” he added. “Ideally we would need to hold stock in Africa but customers there are used to picking up stock from either Dubai or from Asia,” he said.
While ATi does not sell direct to system builders, relying instead on its add-in-board partners, Baig claims that he has an important role to play as a matchmaker linking these partners with the African channel community.
“Once we have a channel in place and some of our add-in-board partners are selling to African customers it is much easier for us to put support in place. This could mean providing system builders and resellers with MDF, implementing channel partner programmes and also doing road shows and seminars.”
ATi’s Middle East revenues continue to grow at a healthy rate, with Baig claiming that sales doubled year-on-year in fiscal 2005. While ATi already has some activities up and running in Egypt, Baig is convinced that channel development across East and West Africa will unlock the door to even faster growth.
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