Millicom International Cellular, one of the world's leading and most innovative telecom operators, and Tropical Cables & Conductor Limited, a leading West African industrial concern in the metal and conducting cables business, today announced a partnership to reduce the prevalence of fake electrical and wiring products in the regional market.
The reduction of fake wiring and related electrical products in the market should contribute substantially to a reduction in the growing spate of fire accidents in the region. Experts have consistently cited the mass influx of fake and substandard cable wiring and related products into the region as one of the contributory causes to the alarming rise in residential, commercial and industrial fire incidents. In recent years, fires blamed on electrical causes have destroyed homes, major shopping clusters, several warehouses and factories.
Under the announced partnership, Millicom, trading under the Tigo brand name, shall support Tropical Cables in their customer authentication program and in an upcoming advocacy effort to promote the use of quality cables and wiring in West Africa.
Customers who buy Tropical's quality cable brands shall be able to authenticate each individual pack with a free text message to a shortcode for instant validation.
Tigo hopes to extend this and similar authentication programs across its operating markets in Africa over the course of the next two years.
Abdul-Nasser Alidu, Head of Solutions at Millicom Ghana said: "Quality has always been a key brand value of Tigo. In the past we had concentrated on delivering quality service to our customers through our own products. Going forward we want to participate in a quality revolution across Africa, empowering people of all walks of life on the continent to insist on quality and to be able to demand it using the technology made possible by our authentication programs. There should be no reason anymore why people should be sold fake cable wiring or indeed any such compromised product that can lead to severe harm."
Mr. Oteng-Gyasi, CEO of Tropical Cables & Conductor Limited, said: "We distribute our quality cable wiring products across West Africa and beyond, contributing to the expansion of critical power infrastructure and the ongoing construction boom. We are seriously concerned about the impact on lives caused by fake electrical products. Electrocutions and fires not only imperil the safety of our people, causing horrific burns and loss of life; they also affect the general security and investment climate. We are proud to be part of the launch of this all-important initiative."
The Tigo - Tropical authentication program shall be powered by mPedigree Network's award-winning goldkeys anti-counterfeiting platform (www.goldkeys.org). MPedigree Network (www.mPedigree.Net) is a social enterprise that has been honoured by UNESCO, the World Economic Forum, the UN and Rockefeller Foundations, among others.
About Tigo
Millicom Ghana Limited (Tigo) is a mobile telecommunication services provider, which was established in Ghana in 1991, as one of the subsidiaries of Millicom International Cellular SA (NASDAQ: MICC) based in Luxembourg. MIC has 13 operations in emerging markets of Africa and Latin America.
About Tropical
Tropical produces more than 5,000 tonnes of Aluminium and Copper products annually. This phenomenal growth has been achieved by manufacturing world class quality conductors and cables for West Africa's energy sector. Tropical Cable and Conductor's remarkable growth is embellished by a number of firsts. On incorporation in 1997, it became the first wholly Ghanaian owned manufacturer in this technologically challenging area. In 2003, the company was the first cable manufacturing company to be listed in the prestigious Club 100 (a listing of top 100 companies). TCCL has continued to feature regularly on the list. The company is the first in West Africa to achieve the ISO 9001 Quality Systems certification in 2004.