Pune-based software services firm Zensar Technologies Ltd has announced a partnership with Johannesburg-based equity fund manager Kapela Holdings and The Tomorrow Trust, which offers academic support to children in South Africa, to set up an IT skills development firm in the country.
Zensar, part of Harsh Goenka led RPG Enterprises, will be the majority shareholder in the new entity, whose name has not been disclosed. The entity will work for major government and social sector projects in South Africa, said a press release.
“This new venture will help us expand our footprint into government contracts and also enhance our standing in the Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment (B-BBEE) code of the government,†said Ganesh Natarajan, vice chairman and CEO, Zensar.
In South Africa, Zensar had launched Learnership Development Programme (LDP) and has been identifying local students from the PDI (previously disadvantaged individual) community in the country and training them locally as well as in India. The company said over 80 per cent of them have already joined its workforce and the new venture in Africa will widen and deepen these partnerships for community development.
Set up in 2001, Zensar's expertise spans across manufacturing, retail, banking, insurance and healthcare. It delivers services in mission-critical applications, enterprise applications, e-business, BPOs and knowledge services. It has more than 7,000 associates with sales and operations presence across the US, the UK, Germany, Sweden, the Middle East, Singapore, China, Australia and Japan, besides South Africa and India.
Kapela is a majority black-owned business comprising professionals aimed at creating value through active involvement in its investees.
The Tomorrow Trust provides a support programme that enables South Africa’s orphan and vulnerable children, who are in need of academic and psycho social support, to overcome shortfalls in the public education system and reach self sustainability.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)