Promasidor Nigeria is a member of the Promasidor Group, which operates in 26 African countries, supplying quality food products including well known brands, such as Top Tea, Onga, Loya and Miksi. Today, Promasidor holds a leading position in the Nigerian powdered milk market with its Cowbell Milk brand, which has found its way into the hearts and homes of thousands of consumers.

Complex communications

Promasidor Nigeria has achieved tremendous growth since it was founded 1993, and presently employs more than a thousand people across the country. Sales have increased from 800,000 cases of products per month in 2007 to 1.2 million cases per month in 2009.

With an expanding business meaning increasing sales data and product information for numerous brands, ensuring effective communications between Promasidor’s departments, and with the company’s group head quarters in South Africa, is key to the efficient running of the business.

Promasidor’s application database server resides in Lagos, which previously led to delays in exchanging information (both financial and non-financial) and sometimes a loss of data as well. Moreover, sales records were either late or lost in communication, which had an impact on the bottom line for the company.

Reliability through Global Internet Connectivity

Promasidor required a high-quality and reliable data connectivity service between its office in Nigeria, the South Africa HQ and its other regional offices across Africa.

Gateway Communications was awarded the contract to supply dedicated and reliable Internet access in order to create a global network for the company as a whole. With more than 47 transponders of satellite capacity over Africa, Gateway manages more connectivity over the continent than any other operator.

In 2004 Gateway delivered the main Internet connection over satellite from New Skies, using a microwave licensed radio link. The service was installed and live in two weeks, providing Promasidor with 256 /512k capacity. Additionally, a radio link was used to deliver connectivity to Promasidor Nigeria’s head office in Lagos.

Promasidor uses the internet access for email and enabling other communication, such as Skype, file sharing between departments and locations, and an ERP platform that operates 24x7.

Long-term value
For Promasidor, having a reliable and secure Internet connection has enabled the company to deliver total communications, sharing information and processing data across the business. Promasidor is now planning to connect two up-country sites, Kano and Onitsha.

“Any business relies on effective communications to exchange business critical information and data that is needed in real time to make financial and operational decisions,” said Keith Richards, managing director of Promasidor Nigeria. “Gateway’s connectivity solutions have allowed us to send and receive information from HQ instantaneously, improving the effectiveness of our business on the ground. Over the last four years we have been able to make improvements in the running of the company, delivering more value to our customers and shareholders, because of this investment in our communications infrastructure.”