Dublin-based IOT and mobile solution provider Workz Group has opened an office in Dakar, Senegal to engage the West African telecommunications market.

The company believes there is a gap in this competitive market because businesses are increasingly looking to partner with local solution manufacturers who do everything in-house rather than older multinational providers who rely on third-party suppliers – which means that the supply chain is impacted by distance and time.

Workz stated: "With both the number of parties and distance involved, this can be rather slow and costly. Regional players like ourselves who produce everything in-house, do not have the large overheads and can offer a very cost-efficient product which is a lot faster to market."

SIM software is developed in-house, and the company hosts and manages its remote provisioning and Over-the-Air services.

The Dakar office is the company's second location in Africa after establishing an office in Johannesburg, South Africa, in June 2018.

The company plans to offer its certified telecoms products such as SIM cards, embedded SIM chips and scratch cards from its Dubai production facilities to the West African market - predicted to contribute over US$70-billion to its (the region's) GDP by 2023.

Overseeing support for clients from the new Dakar office will be Regional Sales Manager, Ramatoulaye Gaye Toure who has prior experience in the West African telecoms sector, Workz added.

The company cannot divulge details of its clients in the region, but said it currently provides SIM, eSIM, recharge cards and related to services to "just under 30 operators in the continent."

It has also not offered detail on its go-to-market strategy, other than to say "Our growth is very organic, and our new offices are a reflection of a growing client base in those regions. We will continue to evaluate our service bases and will grow these as our client base grows."

In its announcement of the Senegal office, Tor Malmros, Managing Director of Middle East & Africa, Workz Group said, "Talking to our clients and other network operators in the region, we see a tremendous opportunity in West Africa. As a global provider and a regional manufacturer, we are confident we can offer something not currently available in the market which is a highly cost-efficient, high-quality product with very short delivery times."

"With the opening of our new Dakar office, we hope to replicate the success we've had in other parts of Africa and be able to work even closer with West African network operators to overcome their current challenges and support their successful evolution in a very dynamic market."