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Joaquim Tobias Dai

MOZAMBIQUE - Telecoms & IT

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Executive Board Director, EXICTOS (Mozambique Branch)

Bio

Joaquim Tobias started his career whilst at university and served eight years at the Association of Mozambican Students in Portugal from 1999 to 2007, developing economic conferences for those interested in developing business in Mozambique. In the process, he developed skills in promoting economic activity in Mozambique, based on the needs of the country. He has a Business Management Degree from ISEG Business School of Lisbon. He has also served as External Economic Advisor for the Minister of Science and Technology and at Mozambique ICT Institute (MICTI) from 2007 to 2010. He is Chairman of the Mozambican Economists Association (AMECON), Chairman of EXAME Magazine, and Visiting Lecturer on Masters in Strategy of Innovation and Internationalization at ISG Business School in Lisbon, Portugal. He is also a founding member of the Mozambique-Portugal Chamber of Commerce.

TBY talks to Joaquim Tobias Dai, Executive Board Director of EXICTOS (Mozambique Branch), on recruitment, developing specific technologies, and increasing market share in the sector.

How has EXICTOS developed into its current form, and what are your priorities?

EXICTOS began operating in Mozambique with an local office in 2007. By that time we had around six banks working with our application and software including Millennium Bank, BCI, and certain other smaller players. Then we closed several deals with other banks and helped them undergo the experience of a takeover to become what they are today. We helped them grow and they did the same for us in actual fact. We realized through experience that we are not a service provider, but rather a partner for the banks. Being competitive requires solid products and distribution channels, such as debit cards, credit cards, internet banking, SMS banking, mobile banking, and other systems. If you want to diversify and compete for clients you must have mobility within your system that allows the banks to create new products as the need arises. Exictos means excellence in consultancy, technology, outsourcing, and software. In the beginning we were seen as a software house. Now we are even providing management consultancy for certain clients. Our new application system is called Banka 3G, which is the core software for the banks, but we also have Financa, Portal Banka Plus and others.

How have your available resources evolved in the past years?

At the moment, as an international group, we have 450 employees and 21 people working in the company in Mozambique. We recruited seven more engineers in late 2014-early 2015. We will need more technicians and engineers with more experience. Our major leap in 2015 will be for a team dedicated to utilities. We have an established relationship with the utility companies in Mozambique. We will develop the Exictos Academy next year in order to train them to show our team to sell our products well, and to demonstrate to potential buyers how we can maximize the growth of their businesses. We do not want to be just your service provider, but also your partner in business.

How would you assess the potential for further growth of your company over the next five years?

The market is growing at such a rate that it is difficult to get hold of everything. Companies must define a strategy. For us, we have knowledge as well as the specific technologies. It is better for us to develop these specific technologies than to develop new products and engage in other specific jobs we are not used to doing. We will sell what we have with our partners—products in insurance, ERPs (enterprise relationship products), and the CRMs. We want to develop consultancy management training, and we will open a training room at our facility shortly. At the moment we have a partnership with one of the hotels in town.

What is EXICTOS’s market share in Mozambique?

It currently stands at 50%. We rank among the top 25 IT companies in Portugal and work predominantly with banks. We remain the top taxpayer on Madeira Island. The growth we have experienced as a group is quite rewarding for us, and our potential as a group is excellent. Our volume is growing very quickly. We hold 95% of the market in terms of the banks in Angola, for example. We expect to keep growing in client terms. We are working with eight banks at the moment in Mozambique and are starting on our ninth. We are growing at an impressive rate in terms of banks. 2015 will be a particularly good year for us; not only in terms of the upgrades, but also for the banks we are currently dealing with, and the new entities that are calling us.

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