Mitsumi, HDS, Partner for Africa Growth

Mitsumi Distribution and Hitachi Data Systems (HDS) have partnered to expand HDS product and solutions reach in East and West Africa.

HDS is an IT services and solutions provider and Mitsumi is a consumer electronics and telecommunications distributor in Africa.

According to Mitsumi, its local presence in East, West and North Africa region will allow HDS to offer better product availability and further strengthen its reach in the region.

Together the companies will co-invest in technical support staff, sales, and market development activities to facilitate the adoption of HDS products and solutions.

In addition, Mitsumi will recruit partners who will work with the enterprise team to sell and support HDS solutions.

According to Mitesh Shah, MD at Mitsumi Distribution, there is immense potential in the African market. Distributors will look to Africa for growth as the profit margins in this market continue to grow.

With new technologies constantly hitting the shores, there is going to be a great deal of innovation within the distribution space which could look different from the current distribution models being widely used, says Shah.

Mitsumi firmly believes in the potential of Africa and is certain that every distributor worth their while will invest in Africa over the next two years to reap the rich dividend on offer, he notes.

"We are excited to partner with HDS to see and achieve significant growth. Our partnership reinforces our objective to expand HDS product and solutions reach in East and West Africa, says Shah.

He points out grey marketing and software piracy are two of the key challenges every distributor is facing.

Mistumi plans to hold blitz campaigns to educate resellers on the huge risks in dealing in grey marketing and how to mitigate this challenge, says shah.

Mitsumi's Pan African distribution strategy and strong in-country presence is essential for HDS as it looks towards expanding its presence across the continent, says Vic Booysen, channel director at Hitachi Data Systems, sub Saharan Africa and SA.