Chioma Ekeh is managing director, Technology Distributions Limited (TD), a world-class technology leader in distribution incorporated to pioneer technology distribution in West Africa. She holds a Bachelors Degree in both Economics and Mathematics and an MBA of the Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, and has attended several training courses both within and outside Nigeria. Ekeh is also a qualified accountant (FCCA) with many years of working experience, from Sterling Devereaux as a financial adviser, to London Borough of Lewisham as senior accountant and later a principal auditor. She spoke to hilary okeke
Benefits of Partnership with OEMs
Basically, a partnership is a strategic arrangement that brings one or two or more actors in a business together. When they are brought together in a partnership, the benefits are obvious. There is financial, technical and professional support because all the parties are pulling resources together. Where one party is deficient in terms of capacity, it can easily lend from another, which means that the business will be more profitable, it would benefit the society more and the market grows. When you look at the issue of technology transfer, it is not something someone goes elsewhere and steals. It is something that you can get from such partnerships as we have here today. By the partnership between TD and Dell for instance, TD gives Nigerians and other West Africans direct access to Dell technology offerings. Dell products have been around – our people use them, repair them and even clone them. But this partnership will make authentic Dell products available to end-users who now have to be rest assured that they are making good purchases.
Price Control Policy on Products
There is a pricing policy that ensures that resellers get the products at rates which are favourable, so that they can sell to end-users and meet their profit goals. When we get from the manufacturer, he gives a margin and we as middlemen passing on the product to resellers take very tiny margin so that resellers can make profit at the end of the day. So at the point that it is sold to the end-user, everybody makes something. It is beyond just profit and loss statement though. There is also the mechanism of warranty, which devolves from the manufacturer, to the core mover and to the reseller - that is manufacturers’ warranty, distributors’ warranty and reseller’s warranty; so that the products are protected and the end-users are protected as well.
Role in After-Sales Support
What TD does is retrieve the products that are faulty and then pass them back to the manufacturer. Where there is an arrangement between the manufacturer and TD, a support centre is established, and that centre is dedicated to equipment coming from a particular manufacturer. As we speak, we have such support centre in our group of companies. TD works through the Task support group. All faulty PCs irrespective of brand are sent to the Task support group for repairs.
Zinox’s Position in TD’s Partnership with Other OEMs
Today we have TD in partnership with Dell, HP, Toshiba, Acer, as well as Zinox. No, TD is not in any form of competition with Zinox because they are not in the same market. The way Dell manufactures and appoints TD as a distributor is the same way Zinox manufactures and appoints TD as a distributor. TD markets all internationally acclaimed brands. It would be a disservice to this economy, given TD’s experience and capacity, to devote its distribution channel to only Zinox. It would be a great disservice to the Nigerian and the entire West African markets.
Implications of the Recent TD, Dell Partnership
TD being a top distributor of ICT products in the entire West African region translates into gain in market share for Dell. This partnership automatically means that Dell has access to TD resellers, and these resellers are top sellers each passing year, wherever they operate. There is cohesion between TD and its resellers that you do not find among other bulk movers. In choosing our resellers, the candidate must be morally sound, must have a recognizable and accessible outlet, must have at least two or three engineers in his employ, and must have a capacity for marketing, proven. Our resellers cover the West African sub-region and our relationship with them has been wonderful.
What Makes TD Unique in Nigeria
Technology Distributions is a bulk mover. The company was set up to move equipment directly from original manufacturers. It was set up at a time when the market was not organised, and there was little or no capacity in terms of finance, professionalism and business intelligence and depth of understanding of the business of information technology distribution. TD was not set up to sell products to end-users, from the onset it sells only to distributors and resellers. TD established a tier of resellers in the ICT market who have given the market part of its credibility today. So it is important to make this distinction between TD and other practitioners in the market. A lot of people you see out there practicing may who come across as TD counterparts, but they are mere distributors who also sell to end-users. If an end-user comes to us to buy a product, we send him/her to our resellers. TD serves as a middleman between the manufacturers and the resellers, so it is a unique position we occupy in the marketplace.
TD in Nigeria and Other African Markets
TD is strong in Ghana, and there are about 20 million people there while Nigeria has a population of about 150 million. When you compare both markets, what would make more sense is only when you talk about ethics, and not volume of business or the modalities for the execution of this business. Looking at the volume of sales in Nigeria and that in a place like Ghana, you would see that it is higher here. In Nigeria, it is possible to sell more PCs to individuals than elsewhere in this region because people here tend to have more disposable income than others. TD as a bulk mover, has marked a significant presence in the West African region. When we enter any country, we appoint distributors and resellers who interface with end-users. So it is easier to appreciate TD’s performance in these markets, against this background. TD is the only platform of this nature that is actually committing resources to the development and restructuring of those African markets. For instance, the Gambian and even the Ghanaian markets were not properly structured before we got there. TD was able to bring in the kind of professionalism, financial muscle and goodwill at the government, resellers and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) levels, which makes it possible for the markets to be now properly structured.
