The IT services group Novian added a company in Africa to its technologies business area. On 18 April this year, a share purchase and sale agreement was signed according to which the company Novian Technologies acquired Rwanda-based Norway Registers Development Rwanda Ltd. (NRD Rwanda) from NRD Companies, an international IT and consulting group of companies. The value of the deal is undisclosed.
Following the transaction, the Novian group’s companies will have offices not only in the Baltic countries, Norway and Moldova, but also in Rwanda. Novian and NRD Companies are owned by INVL Technology, a company that invests in IT businesses.
“We have been working in Africa for more than a decade and this deal will further strengthen our position in the region. We see Rwanda and other African countries as having great digitalization potential, which we can help realize by providing big data and high-performance computing solutions, as well as by using our expertise in the fields of GovTech, finance and climate change,” says Gytis Umantas, the CEO of Novian Technologies.
He notes great attention is being given to digitalization in African countries through World Bank programmes. “This move will allow Novian Technologies to strengthen its presence not only in Rwanda, but also in Burundi and other Central and East African countries. This is particularly important for us, since sharing our knowledge in regions that are rapidly growing and digitalizing is part of Novian Technologies’ identity,” Umantas explains.
“Since NRD Rwanda was founded in 2016, we have been providing the region with first-class technology solutions. We are proud of the strategic government projects we have carried out in Rwanda, including the deployment of digital business registry systems for the Rwanda Development Board, mortgage registration consultancy projects, and many others,” says Mindaugas Glodas, the CEO of the NRD Companies group.
He says the decision to sell NRD Rwanda is part of the group’s business strategy. “We will continue to focus heavily on work in the African region, but under a new business model that will allow us to provide even more added value to our customers,” the CEO of NRD Companies says. In Africa, NRD Companies is active in Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Uganda, Zanzibar, Zimbabwe and other countries.
NRD Rwanda, based in the Rwandan capital Kigali, will continue to be headed by Ephrem Bizimana, an experienced IT manager who has held the position since the company’s establishment. Novian Technologies has worked extensively with the National Bank of Rwanda and the Rwanda Revenue Authority. The company has modernized the IT infrastructure of the central bank of Burundi, carried out projects related to the IT infrastructure of the East African Community’s information exchange platform for bureaus of standards, and participated in projects in the region funded by the World Bank, TradeMark Africa and other organizations.
Novian Technologies is also active in Africa in the provision of solutions for climate monitoring and change. The company has deployed high-performance computing (HPC) solutions at the West African Science Service Centre on Climate Change and Adapted Land Use (WASCAL), as well as in more than ten African countries, in partnership with the Climate Services Centre of the Southern African Development Community (SADC).
About Novian
Novian Technologies, part of the Novian software and IT infrastructure services group, focuses on high-performance computing device clusters, open source cloud technologies, document digitization and data archiving, and ongoing highly-skilled IT managed services. Novian Technologies’ expertise includes IT infrastructure set-up, maintenance and re-alignment, and critical IT infrastructure maintenance services.
Novian companies’ activities range from ensuring the smooth day-to-day running of an organization’s IT to software development, on a municipal or national scale, development of domain-specific information systems, and digitization and artificial intelligence solutions. Novian companies carry out projects in business, e-government, e-health, tax-related and other areas. For more information, visit www.novian.io.
About NRD Companies
NRD Companies is a global IT and consulting group of companies specializing in governance and digital infrastructure development. The group unites companies operating in Fintech, GovTech, and practice-based consulting areas in aiding countries to reach UN sustainable development goals. Part of the INVL Technology group, NRD Companies is a recognized market leader and operates on all five continents. Its companies have a successful track record implementing projects for e-service delivery and tax administration platforms, the digitalization of national postal services, and other digital solutions.
The NRD Companies group includes the following subsidiaries: ETRONIKA, Norway Registers Development AS, NRD Systems, NRD Bangladesh and Infobank Uganda. For more information, visit www.nrdcompanies.com.
