MapIT, a South Africa-based company, has bought 21 percent stakes from SatNav East Africa, a Uganda-based IT firm.
The US$2.1 million worth of shares, will see MapIT expand its influence across the East African region, South Sudan included.
SatNav East Africa chief executive Vincent Okema said the new arrangement will provide the firm with the technical support including improved digital maps across six east African countries.
Digital address codes are special codes that offer exact address information including residential and business addresses. This new technology will help the business community in Uganda — and globally — identify clients, achieve business goals and extend customer-base.
Okema said the device can guide someone to any location. The navigation devices are linked to digital maps to give any direction, identify points of interest including hospitals, and help in sorting out emergency cases.
According to MapIT managing director Etienne Louw, his firm is ready to work with SatNav and with MapIt’s detailed mapping datasets for Africa, assist the Uganda-based company achieve its business goals.
SatNav is Uganda’s pioneer in Global Positioning System [GPS] technology and GPS based consumer electronics established in 2011. The firm has developed digital maps and address codes for the whole regionc accessible at $19.6 and $78.5 for businesspersons. Navigation devices go for between $235.5 and $510.
MapIT provides Web mapping, mobile mapping, digital mapping services, location-based services and location business intelligence across business, financial, fleet and logistics.
The SA firm is 51 percent owned by Avusa Lt, a media conglomerate quoted on the Johannesburg stock exchange. It covers 104 countries and territories and 34.8 million kilometers of road globally that include 10 countries and 1.7m kilometers coverage in southern Africa.
