Lusaka Telecoms Firm Spreads E-commerce across Africa

 

By Derrick Silimina

Lusaka Telecom Solutions (LTS) has invested more than US$12 million in fibre optic and information communication technology (ICT) services in the last seven years and has spread to various countries in Africa.

The company runs three business lines namely fibre optic solutions, microwave, ICT, wireless solutions, infrastructure and power solutions, and operates in Botswana, Malawi, Uganda, Mauritius, Namibia, Tunisia, Egypt, Mozambique, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo with Zambia being the headquarters. 

This emerged when ZDA Acting Director-General Albert Halwampa led senior management on a tour of the LTS to appreciate their operations. 

He said opportunities were vast for e-commerce in the country especially in the wake of Covid 19 pandemic which had disrupted supply chains worldwide. 

Halwampa stated that all that is needed is a reliable online platform to connect buyers and sellers. 

“The Agency is looking for an investor that can invest in e-commerce infrastructure to make sure that exporters keep interacting with importers in other countries to clinch as well as seal export deals,” he said. 

Halwampa was elated upon learning that LTS had started reaping fruits from the ZDA Congo Trade Mission in Lubumbashi in October 2021 and the Intra-Africa Trade Fair in Durban South Africa in which the ZDA facilitated participation for the various private sector players. 

The LTS has since commenced business into the DRC as a result of participating in the ZDA Trade Mission. 

LTS Business Development Manager Mohamed Abd El-razek disclosed that a total of K14 million had been spent to date on providing forward and backward linkages to large and small businesses. 

The company is at the moment working with about 30 local subcontractors among them MSMEs on their various projects across the country.

He highlighted that in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, telecommunication services have become important for people to continue transacting and running their day to business.

“Currently, we have more than 200 employees and plan to increase to 900 by March and by the end of this year we expect to have over 1,000 employees,” El-razek said.