African Lakes Corp plans to overcome the shortage of telephone lines and IT infrastructure in Africa with a rapid roll-out of its ‘e-touch’ centers that offer users internet access at post offices and other community centers. The company already has 228 centers and 20,000 registered users in Kenya after its launch earlier this year, and is now extending the service to Cote dÆIvoire and Zimbabwe.
In the year to September 30, African Lakes, a London-based company that is transforming itself into a major provider of IT services in Africa, saw net profit fall 24.8% to 733,000 pounds ($1.1m) on revenue that rose 22.6% to 18.3m pounds ($29.6m).
The company owns 65% of the equity of Africa Online whose original five-country operation was extended by the acquisition of the dominant ISP in Swaziland earlier this year. Chief executive officer Chris Foy says the company now plans to double the countries in which it operates during the coming year to make it the leading African internet gateway.
African Lakes Information Technology division aims to establish the group as the leading provider of IT hardware, software, services and EDI where markets are growing at 30% per annum in sub-Saharan Africa.
