Intellect flags $20 million African sale

ASX-listed e-commerce hardware vendor Intellect has sold another $12 million worth of its mobile transaction devices to South Africa, with another $8 million expected to be sold early next year.

A statement released by Intellect said that its South African reseller, mobile communications specialist Leaf Wireless, had added a $12 million deal to an initial $9 million sale announced in November.

Both deals were for Intellect's AERO 520p GPRS mobile transaction devices. The lates $12 million deal would be "followed by  another $8 million in early 2004 for contracts already at hand", the company said.

Jan de Smet, the Belgium-based CEO for Intellect, said the deals showed it was the "right time" to work in developing markets, such as South Africa.

"Intellect's order book keeps getting stronger... technology is setting businesses apart and the interest levels appear to be peaking," de Smet said. "Leaf Wireless is proving to be an excellent partner for Intellect in South Africa."

De Smet said Intellect expected to sign a lot of business in South African and other African countries via Leaf Wireless in the next two years.

"Intellect's AERO device was the world's first to perform a traditional point of sale payment transaction across GPRS in Brazil earlier this year." de Smet added.

Intellect is a firm founded in Australia and headquartered in Belgium. It designs and develops secure electronic payment and smart card products, such as smartcard and mobile payment terminals. It has offices in Belgium, Australia, France, Hong Kong, and the US and has sold its gear to about 30 countries.