Vincent Entonu, Westcon-Comstor MD of Africa.

Global distributor Westcon-Comstor Africa said it never stopped servicing the Tanzania market, but has resumed local delivery operations after this was stopped in mid-2016.

From this time, the company covered the Tanzania market through its operations and support team based in Kenya, and ensured the delivery of goods and services through its European operations.

The company responded to a query regarding its Tanzania market strategy following an announcement this week that it had resumed trading in the East African country - which included the outline of a plan to support local partners with channel development, enablement and marketing.

Vincent Entonu, Managing Director at Westcon-Comstor Africa, said Tanzania operations had ceased local delivery in mid-2016 due to a business restructure process prompted by what the company described as “macro-economic challenges”.

However, the company announced a change in plan this week.

“With the regional operational model we realised that Westcon was not able to service all partners across the spectrum, thus the decision to re-open the local operations. This decision is also backed by the improved outlook expected in the Tanzania market,” said Entonu.

According to Westcon-Comstor, resellers in Tanzania who partner with them as their preferred distributor will be able to deliver enterprise-grade IT software, security, networking, datacentre, and collaboration technologies from a wide range of global vendors.

“As a value-add, Westcon-Comstor will also offer the DDP (Deliver Duty Paid) incoterm option to these resellers,” the company continued.

Entonu added that the distributor will work with local system integrators in the region and offer them “a seamless mechanism to become resellers” and, subsequently, partners of its strategic vendor portfolio.

This will include a programme to encourage local enablement, training and certification, and partner on-boarding. “All of which will be provided through the Westcon-Comstor partner development and professional services teams,” the company announced.

Tanzanian partners can also tap into the Westcon-Comstor Academy and leverage the distributor's in-house technical skills while developing in-house professional services practice.

Entonu said, "As Westcon-Comstor Africa, we are delighted to be able to bring the members of the Tanzanian ICT community a robust portfolio of products supported by a global network with a local mindset. We are looking forward to being part of the growth of the Tanzanian ICT industry.”