Oracle applications software gains momentum with African organisations September training event in Nairobi typifies reasons for success Accra, Ghana, 29 August 2005 - Banks, utilities, mining groups and telecoms companies are just some of the wide range of private- and public-sector businesses across Africa turning to the Oracle E-Business Suite to help streamline their operations, improve efficiency and cut costs. Oracle, the world's leading enterprise software company, this week reported increasing sales momentum in its African Operations as companies here adopt world-class solutions to compete effectively both on the continent and globally. Desi Lopez-Fafié, Managing Director of Oracle African Operations, cited examples from different industries to show how enterprise applications software - which enables organisations to optimise their back-office and customer-facing operations - is bringing significant benefit to African business and government. "One of the keys to Oracle's growth and success in Africa has been our commitment to education and training, not just in applications but across the whole enterprise software spectrum," he said. "In Kenya, for example, we're holding a training session on grid computing - what it is and how to get started - on 6 September in Nairobi, which is just one of a series of similar events happening across Africa throughout the year. African executives are eager to adopt best practices." Banking is just one example of a sector adapting to the information age. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has replaced its existing software with Oracle E-Business Suite and Oracle Database 10g. CBN launched "Project Eagles" two years ago to streamline the Bank's business processes to make it more efficient, more responsive, to restructure assets and liabilities, promote efficiency and improve cost-effectiveness. At the heart of the reorganisation was a complete re-evaluation of the Bank's IT needs. This led to the implementation of the Oracle E-Business Suite, which would form the basis for the process improvement and re-engineering project. Work began in October 2003 through Oracle Consulting, Accenture and Oracle's Nigerian partner Data and Scientific Systems (DSS). CBN now has a unified data model, whereby all major applications run on Oracle databases. This means that integration becomes a simple matter of creating database links and granting appropriate privileges and access. This visionary technology adoption could prove to be one of the biggest assets for CBN. The simplification of communication between applications, single sign-on and shared business intelligence capabilities will ensure relevant, accurate information from one source at the fingertips of executive decision-makers. Another leading central bank, the Central Bank of Uganda (BOU), is also using the financial modules of the Oracle E-Business Suite to set a course towards growth and banking best practice. The implementation of the inventory, purchasing, order entry and the Bank's recurrent and capital budget modules took just four months to complete and was managed by the Consulting division of Oracle African Operations and a team from the Bank of Uganda. As the Bank grew, it found itself with several isolated legacy information systems. This meant a lack of integration, information duplication and redundancies, complex interfaces with limited functionality, incompatible applications and no guarantee of support services. BOU evaluated a number of competitive offerings and found in Oracle a single solution that could deliver all its financial system requirements. The robustness of the solution and Oracle's strong presence in Africa were also key factors in BOU's choice. The Bank implemented enterprise resource planning (ERP) using Oracle Financials as the core of its financial systems. "The new system is much more user-friendly and more secure," says Richard Fabiano Mayebo, Director of MIS at the Bank, and the Oracle Applications project manager. "It allows BOU greater control over the Bank information, with advanced analysis and query capabilities." Group Sonatel is the telecommunications company in Senegal for fixed telephony and mobile services. Sonatel, which has 1,800 employees and annual revenue of $350 million, was looking for an integrated ERP system with a single source of data that would allow applications to be shared within the group. The system needed to be flexible, evolutionary and provide an audit trail. Sonatel's other requirements included the availability of real-time data, documented procedures and simplified, standardised and profitable processes. Sonatel chose Oracle E-Business Suite as best meeting these requirements. Implementation was carried out in two phases and included homogenisation of the processes through the various subsidiary companies. The system replaced several different, non-integrated and non-centralised applications with a single, complete and integrated solution, making it possible to accelerate the closure of the accounts. Énergie Du Mali (EDM) used to manage all its water and electricity customers and associated financial, fixed asset and payroll needs on a small computer. But it found problems with the reliability of the financial and accounting data, customer billing, and the lack of a single source of financial and customer data. Like the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Bank of Uganda, Sonatel in Senegal and scores of other companies, EDM chose Oracle E-Business Suite to deliver a cutting-edge solution in terms of technology and functionality, greater stability and usability, and lower total cost of ownership. The benefits noted so far are a stable and more manageable ERP system that offers far greater ease of use, and the company sees it supporting decision-making across the business as its activities develop in the future. And it's not just commercial organisations that are benefiting from the latest softeware. Oracle technologies have already enabled a number of African governments to build their foundation for e-government, including Kenya, Mauritius, Uganda, Botswana and Namibia. "We are seeing a significant increase in interest in the benefits that enterprise software can deliver for business and government in Africa," Mr Lopez Fafié said. "This looks set to continue as businesses like ours contribute to identifying solutions that will address skills transfer to a wider audience and not just the happy few that have access today to computing technology. That will help to bridge the digital divide and help Africa compete on a more level playing field with the rest of the world." ends   About Oracle Oracle is the world's largest enterprise software company. For more information about Oracle, visit our website at www.oracle.com. ### Trademark Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates. Contact Peter Rae Oracle Corporation +44 (0) 1189 243999 peter.rae@oracle.com Cathy Stadler Oracle Corporation +27 83 635 5862 cathy.stadler@oracle.com