CWG counts blessings, rewards staff

MELVIN AWOLOWO and EUNICE AYEGBOYIN report


Computer Warehouse Group, one of Nigeria’s leading IT company, is counting its blessings 12 years after it opened shop in Black’s Africa’s biggest market.

Also for its loyal employees there were rewards for long service and for helping to build a conglomerate of three companies from a humble start of one single company selling brain boxes in Nigeria’s tempestuous corporate sector.

CWG now consists of Computer Warehouse Limited, Expert Edge Limited, its software arm and DCC, which offers telecommunications solutions.

But for Group Managing Director Austin Okere the company’s good tidings do not sufficiently represent the state of the affairs in Africa’s most populous country of 150 million people.

“We would like to pause to take stock and review our bearing,” said a sober Okere who referred to India’s success story in IT and regretted Nigeria’s inability to find a its own bearing in IT.

“In the last decade, the India Economy has witnessed an economic boom with GDP growth in the region of 5-6%, championed by the bourgeoning IT Industry. IT Services giants (and CWG banking applications partner in Nigeria), Infosys, founded in 1982 was listed on the NASDAQ in 1993. Infosys has recorded gross revenue of $1bn in the last financial year, joining two other IT companies in India (Tata Consulting and WIPRO) who have made it to the prestigious global $1bn turnover list. Most of this has been achieved on the back of IT Services Outsourcing.”

For Nigeria’s Okere paints a gory picture of a country struggling to eat. “GDP growth in the last two years in Nigeria has hovered around a pitiful 3-3.5%, despite the telecoms boom and the potential for another boom in the Oil Industry occasioned by the unstable environment in the
Middle East and the war in Iraq.”

But Okere has kind words for the country’s managers. He believes there is now official recognition for IT and a more organised approach to making IT the cornerstone of the country’s economy, though there is room for improvement.

“The Federal Government has finally woken up to the potentials that IT portends for the economy, and has begun taking steps to avail Nigeria of these immense potentials, some of the steps taken are… the creation
of IT corridors in the geo-polity, the inauguration of a task force to evolve a software development policy for Nigeria.”

It was not all about being sober for the CWG family. It was also a moment to uncork the wine and drink to the continuous health of the group with rewards for several of its long serving staff.

The recipients include Austin Eneh, named best Finnacle support partner of the year, Gbemisola Obey who was instrumental to Expert Edge’s winning of an Oracle award and Morenike Popoola who bagged the Sun-Micro System award for best marketing manager while the Sun-Micro Excellence award went to Gregory Uwake.

Long service awardees include Bola Majekodunmi, Gregory Uwake, Olufemi Adeitan (Head Marketing CWG Ghana), Alex Ebede and Ololade.

Okere said CWG would be focusing on delighting customers through service excellence and quality assurance, to attract clients on the basis of track record. The group was recently certified in Quality Management Systems with NIS ISO 9001:2000 in Information, Communication and
Technology Services by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria.

The Group foraged into Ghana last year leading to the formation of Computer Warehouse (Ghana) limited.
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