‘Support local business’

A call has been made to African business leaders to consider supporting local industries by procuring their equipment and logistics within the continent.

Ms Nnenna Nwakanma, chairperson of the Free and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) Council, made this call at the Digital Common conference for FOSSFA members in Accra,

The conference was aimed at spearheading excellence in Information and Communications Technologies (ICT) in Africa.

Ms Nwakanma also led a delegation to inspect the Omatek Computer Factory in Accra and commended officials of the company for their drive in pushing ICT forwards in Africa.

She again applauded the management of company for its efforts in building capacity for the citizens of the continent.

The General Manager, Mr. Nana Benneh, expressed delight for the opportunity by FOSSFA members to know what the company is doing and where the two could partner in advancing the African cause in ICT.

Mr. Saheed Onifade, the Production Manager, Omatek Ghana, revealed that they are currently assembling about 200 Personal Computers (PCs) per day and have plans to delve into solar power in Accra, even as they do commercial assembling for people or companies who wish to have their own brands.

He explained that Omatek computers are tropically adapted to cope with the weather situation in this part of the world.

This, he said, makes Omatek stand out among the foreign brands which do not conform to these additional features, stressing that every PC after being assembled is sent into the ‘burning room’ for several hours followed by a system report that shows the composition so as to ensure that every system complies with Omatek standards.

He pointed out that the Omatek Ghana factory was set up to serve the Ghanian market and other West Africa states.

“Omatek usually load both Microsoft and Open Source (OS) operating systems in every PC, so as to give customers the choice.

Omatek has a partnership with Madriva, an Open Source distributor, to load its e-learning package onto some of the PCs meant for educational institutions in a bid to bridge the gap between the cities and rural communities in Africa, Onifade said.