Nigeria-based business conglomerate Dangote Group has signed a multi-million euro deal with leading business software-maker SAP, marking one of the most significant SAP deals in Africa.
SAP is to supply Dangote with its business suites, enabling them to shift from manual-based systems to more integrated and automated versions.
The exact value of the deal has not yet been confirmed, though it is the largest in Nigerian history and is expected to be phased in over the next three years.
The Dangote Group will now use the single integrated platform across all its businesses, lowering operating costs and increasing efficiency as part of a push to improve manufacturing capacity that would lead to creation of goods and employment across the continent.
SAP is pursuing a policy of investment in Nigeria, and the company’s West Africa account executive Mike Okwechime said that Dangote was the latest renowned company to recognise SAP as a leader in its field.
“The top manufacturing Nigerian companies, such as Heineken, Nestle, Cadbury, Unilever, Guinness and UAC, all run SAP. Dangote has now become the first company in Nigeria to have an agreement that spans across other African countries, like South Africa, Senegal and Ghana,” he said.
“With the continued investment that SAP is making in Nigeria, we are elated to witness the fruits of that investment.”
SAPis a German multinational software company that provides enterprise software solutions to business operations and customer relations. It is headquartered in Walldorf, Baden-Württemberg and has regional offices across the world.
Itssoftware solutions include Sybase mobile products, in-memory computing appliance SAP HANA, enterprise resource planning application (SAP ERP), enterprise data warehouse solution – SAP Business Warehouse (SAP BW) and SAP BusinessObjects software.
Headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria,Dangote Group deals in real estate, cement, salt, pasta, beverages and with other projects that include oil, telecommunications, fertilisers, steel and natural gas.
The company is reportedly the largest cement manufacturer in Africa.In December 2010, it penned a deal with the Government of Zambia to construct a US$400 million cement plant in the country, which should be ready in June 2013. The plant is expected to generate an annual output of US$1.5 million.
