Pete da Silva

JSE-listed Jasco aims to grow revenue from the Southern African Development Community (SADC) from 7% to between 20% and 25%, “as soon as possible”.

Jasco CEO Pete da Silva says when he took over the reins at the company, in July last year, Jasco only earned 7% of its income from the region. He aims to grow this to 20% before earning as much as 40% to 50% in years to come.

The group is targeting countries for opportunities and has gone through the paper case already, says Da Silva. Jasco is now seeking partnerships for joint ventures, or entities to acquire.

Jasco’s presence in Southern Africa had largely been project-driven and opportunistic, says Da Silva. He points out that this was not a sustainable growth path and he wants to do Monday-to-Monday business on the continent.

Jasco aims to establish sustainable businesses with partners, says Da Silva. As the company has a small balance sheet, its initial plans were to look at countries such as Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya.

In June last year, Jasco Networks expanded its operations into Central Africa with the formation of Jasco Congo, a subsidiary company with dedicated presence and local shareholders in the region.

Jasco Congo has signed a partnership agreement with Warid Congo to manage and maintain a carrier-neutral co-location data centre in Congo-Brazzaville.

Da Silva says the group now has the fundamentals in place and can offer its services to corporations, the oil industry and the telecoms sector. He adds that Jasco Congo is in talks with the regulator to establish the country’s first data exchange and will establish relationships with local partners.