Sedna Industrial IT Solutions, located in South Africa and providing industrial and mining IT solutions since 2006, has changed ownership and is now focused on expanding in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA).

This comes after Anton Fester, managing director, and Koos Fourie, technical director, who have been overseeing the South African business while focusing on Sedna's growth in EMEA, purchased 100% of the company's African operations.

Following the transaction, Sedna's original founders and owners, Peter Dormehl and Darryl Mitchell, will continue to own and administer the firm in the United States, with the Americas remaining a key growth area for the company, according to a statement.

To reflect the split of the businesses, Sedna South Africa will rebrand and create a new website (Sedna.Africa), while Sedna USA will retain its corporate identity and website.

“For our customers and partners, not much will change on the surface. The South African owners have been in place for years as leaders. There will, however, be a change in focus as the two businesses separate to ensure that they are best positioned to provide solutions for their respective geographies. Sedna in Africa is going to be focused on growing its business in EMEA, while Sedna Inc in the USA is keenly focused on the business in the Americas,” says Peter Dormehl, CEO of Sedna Inc.

Sedna's USA focus is still on in-pit and underground Private 5G networking, as well as the deployment of autonomous mining.

“Over the past five years, our team has rolled out autonomous trucks in the USA, Australia and Europe. As Nokia partners, we have rolled out cost-effective private 5G solutions on mines in the USA,” says Dormehl.

Sedna's strategy in Africa has been to develop and support enabling connectivity technologies such as pLTE and surface and underground WiFi networks. These enable instrumentation convergence, system integration, and data collection for reporting and management in the mining industry.

Fester says Sedna Africa would be "laser-focused" on delivering excellence and value through production-focused enabling technologies, allowing heavy-duty industries to reap the full benefits of Industry 4.0. Sedna has and continues to provide value to miners including African Rainbow Minerals, Zimplats, Seriti, Thungela, Sibanye Stillwater, and DRA.

“This team delivered Africa’s first licensed spectrum mining pLTE network and the continent’s first underground mining pLTE network. Today these networks enable surface and subterranean autonomation use cases by leading OEMs. We are proud to be accredited by all leading wireless technology solutions,” he says.

“This deal ensures we can build and grow our solutions so that more heavy-duty businesses benefit from cutting-edge industrial technology. With the fast pace of technological change Africa mustn't be left behind. We can now better align to regional requirements and ensure we have dedicated resources to deliver tailor-made solutions that match needs on the ground as we expand.”