Doing Business with CIDA and AfDB
Leads to Multiple Contracts
in Tanzania for SaskTel International
Advanced technologies developed since 1905 to serve residents of Saskatchewan have opened the doors to international markets for SaskTel International (SI). Today, the Regina-based company helps clients around the world develop, improve and expand their telecommunications systems, often under challenging conditions. In rural Tanzania alone, for example, SI, backed by CIDA and international financial institutions (IFIs), has completed six stand-alone contracts worth $38 million—ranging from the delivery of dial tone services in previously unserved towns and villages to high speed optical connections.
Embarking in Tanzania in partnership with CIDA
A wholly owned subsidiary of SaskTel, SI has been active in Tanzania for close to 15 years. In 1988, it won a contract with Tanzania Railways Corporation—its first CIDA-funded venture—to upgrade communications for mainline traffic and railway operations. This five-year project not only delivered an efficient 1,500-kilometre track-side telecommunications system from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza, but also improved the reliability of long distance telephone operations.
In 1994, SI landed a contract with Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd., financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), for the delivery of new telephone cable infrastructure in Dar es Salaam. "A prime goal of all our projects is to train and utilize local workforces as much as possible," says Mike Ryan, SI's Vice-President of Marketing and Operations. "To this end, 130 Tanzanians were employed during the construction of several hundred kilometres of buried and aerial copper facilities."
Connecting the people of Kagera to the world
Under another CIDA-supported initiative that began in 1998, SI has enabled thousands of people in northwestern Tanzania to conduct business, access distance education and call for advice in a medical emergency. The nine communities served in the remote Kagera region previously had either poor quality or no phone service at all. Now, with access to digital technology supplied and installed by SI, residents can contact family and services nearby and around the world. Business people can use fax and e-mail to access customers and suppliers, and anyone can pursue training courses. Health information, which used to be hours—or sometimes days—away on unreliable roads, can now be obtained by phone.
For its work in bringing telephone service to this remote region of Tanzania, SI was presented with an international cooperation award in 2001 from CIDA and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters.
Spinoff contract with Tanzania Railways Corporation
Following the successful implementation of the Kagera project, Tanzania Railways Corporation, with funding from the German bank KfW, awarded SI an $8.2-million contract for the installation of 260 kilometres of fibre optic cable and transmission equipment along a critical railway corridor between Dar es Salaam and the cities of Morogoro and Dodoma. The turnkey project, which was completed in October 2002, has resulted in faster and more reliable communications along this busy portion of central Tanzania's railway system.
A strong relationship with the IFIs and a proven track record worldwide
In July 2000, SI hosted a rural telecom study tour for a group of telecommunications specialists from the World Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. The group spent a week in Saskatchewan participating in site visits, presentations and a round table discussion to explore ways to provide rural telecommunications in developing countries. Since then, SI has maintained a strong working relationship with both institutions. The company has expanded this relationship to include the Inter-American Development Bank and continues to carry out consulting assignments for the World Bank.
In addition to its core staff of 85 people in Regina, SaskTel International has a regional office in Dar es Salaam, along with employees posted overseas on client assignments and for pursuing business opportunities. Although small in comparison with some European and American telecom companies or international consulting conglomerates, SI has carried out a number of significant projects in 30 countries—all on time and on (or below) budget. Examples of its diverse achievements include installing the telecommunications system in the Chunnel connecting England and France, participating in the deployment of 1,500 kilometres of fibre optics in the South China Sea, and providing over 550 telecentres in the Philippines.
For more information, contact:
Export Financing Division, DFAIT
Tel.: (613) 995-7251
E-mail: ifinet@international.gc.ca
or
Steve Sousa, Director of Marketing
SaskTel International
Tel.: (306) 777-4100
E-mail: steve.sousa@sasktel.sk.ca
Internet: www.sasktel-international.com
Publication date: 2003/02/06
|
