First Distribution, the leading Pan-African distributor for Cybersecurity, Data Centre, Enterprise and Cloud solutions, today announced a new partnership with Sage, the market leader in cloud business management solutions. Under the terms of the agreement, First Distribution will be Sage’s value-added distribution partner for small business products and services in SADC, East Africa and West Africa.

First Distribution will distribute the award-winning Sage 50cloud Accounting, Sage Pastel Payroll and Sage Business Cloud Payroll & Accounting product lines across the region. Sage’s financial solutions enable small businesses to save time and resources by automating processes for managing finances and payroll and accepting payments -- from controlling cash flow to creating and sending invoices.

Pieter Bensch, Executive Vice President for Africa & Middle East at Sage, said: “This partnership agreement will enable Sage to expand its reach across sub-Saharan Africa, access new markets and build its customer base by strengthening its distribution footprint. First Distribution is ideally placed to help us grow our share of this dynamic and strategically important market. As a best-of-breed distribution partner, First Distribution has a strong partner network, proven processes for licensing and renewals, and deep reach into territories we are targeting for growth.”

Said Jason Sharp, Director: Cloud & Hosting Solutions at First Distribution: “This partnership with Sage unlocks exciting possibilities for our resellers as small and medium businesses across the region migrate towards cloud-based business solutions. We are excited to work with Sage and our channel to help small companies across sub-Saharan Africa to reduce admin, simplify compliance and gain visibility into their financial performance. As Africa’s leading cloud technology distributor, First Distribution looks forward to growing the Sage brand across Africa.”