Echo International launches in Namibia
Echo International (Echo) announced the launch of its ICT orchestrator business in Namibia last week.Founded in South Africa in 2010, Echo expanded across the continent in 2018 to include a presence in Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, and Mauritius, and also has an established network of strategic partners spanning 44 countries.
Chief executive Jacques Rautenbach says: “Our extended geographic footprint means that our clients continue to have the reassurance of our ability to execute and support their businesses. By drawing on the collective know-how of supporting multinational companies across the African continent, and with a deep understanding and experience in building successful operating companies in Africa, we are able to provide commercial agreements that consider local currencies, apply relevant contract governance, and ensure consistent service management wherever our clients are.”
Echo Namibia has its origins in a partnership dating back to 2020 with Witel Service Provider, a WISP founded in 2016, growing steadily into a full-blown internet service provider to homes and businesses throughout Namibia. During that year, Echo International made a minority investment in Witel, enabling expansion of the existing international capacity by adding an STM-16 (2.5Gbps) undersea cable route to the network, as well as an upgrade of the national backbone in the north of the country, adding further redundancy and improving market pricing.
Reinvention
“With the passing of Witel’s founder, Thomas Castle, in 2021, Echo acquired full ownership of the company early in 2022, precipitating the reinvention of the business to Echo Namibia,” says Marc Gregan, Managing Director of Echo Namibia. “Becoming part of Echo means that we are evolving into an ICT services business, leveraging planned product investments, group skills, and a consultative approach to design, ultimately providing our clients in Namibia with a much broader solution portfolio and improved service delivery.”
Echo’s converged multi-carrier network ensures that clients benefit from the widest connectivity coverage across Africa for every requirement from simple internet connectivity to multi-branch wide area network solutions across multiple territories.
However, their key competence is in the orchestration of hybrid software-defined networks, incorporating ITaaS, managed security, and cloud services, all packaged as an integrated SLA-driven business solution.
“Clients are looking for vendors that are able to offer strategically integrated partnerships that not only provide technology solutions but also consider the structural complexity of their businesses under a flexible agreement,” Rautenbach says. “I am confident that Echo will become the alternative of substance in Namibia.”