Ghana Get You: African Nation’s IT Experts are Filling the Skills Gap

Ostec is Ghana’s leading IT Infrastructure and managed services company, providing a single source of technology, skills and expertise to help IT departments realise greater value from their technology investments.

 

For Ostec founder and CEO Jonathan Tawiah, it began with a bank queue on a summer holiday to Accra in 1999. While Accra was advancing in many ways, there was a lack of efficient technology to drive the economy. After queuing for an hour at his bank to withdraw the equivalent of $50 (because the ATM, at the time, did not accept International cards), Jonathan had his “aha” moment.

After a few more visits to the bank, he realised two key factors were influencing the situation. One was the prohibitive cost for new technology, and the other was a lack of expertise to manage the current technology.

“London was not the same on my return,” he says. “With a passion and fondness for technology, I wanted to make a difference, and improve the speed and efficiency of the way business is done in Ghana.”

Barely 12 months after his disappointing experience in Accra, Ostec was established and begun offering entry level IT managed services to the financial services industry in Ghana.

Nineteen years on, Ostec is building and managing some of the largest IT infrastructure in Ghana — and across West Africa — for Fortune 500 companies, governments, and SMEs. The company’s ability to scale-up or -down to accommodate a customer is an inherent part of Ostec’s success.

Knowing the customer is central to Ostec. “We develop lasting relationships with clients that are built on trust and care,” says Tawiah. “Our support and managed services division has garnered a reputation as the best in the country.”

Jonathan’s passion for technology and his obsession with delivering the best possible service is reflected in his team, a 150-strong workforce from across Africa and beyond.

“Our culture is such that talent is recognised and our employees are known to progress through the ranks,” Tawiah said. “I am keen on an open-door policy, where ideas and solutions are encouraged among team members.”

Ostec encourages and provides a diversified environment; the company also champions women in technology and is developing an internship programme to attract more young women to the predominately male field of IT infrastructure Design and Build. With more than 80 percent of the workforce being Ghanaian, the company provides jobs and believes in giving back to society by supporting charitable organisations.

With an increasing number of international business engagements across the West Africa region, Ostec embarked on what Jonathan Tawiah describes as “the critical catalyst to growing beyond your borders”.

“We did this by embarking on a journey to test our business processes and services against international standards. We invited external auditors to test the way we do business. We recently announced our certification for both ISO 27001 and ISO 9001.

“This is an important milestone in the continuing development, growth and success of Ostec. These certifications demonstrate our commitment to providing secure, quality service to our customers and partners. Ostec is the only indigenous technology company with both ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 in Ghana.”

Being proudly Ghanaian and with a key role in changing the African narrative,

international competition does not bother Tawiah. “The future for Ostec has already begun. We want to change the mindset of how technology is viewed, and express the importance of evolving Ghana’s technological needs with the rest of the world.”