In its 2010 Q4 results released on January 18, IBM said it has added $10 billion in annual revenue in emerging markets since 2000 and is expecting growth in those markets to outpace more established markets. Over the past five years, IBM has spent more than $300 million in Africa to build out data centers, create a software development and educational facility, and invest in training. IBM has operations in 20 African countries.

IBM says it is actively opening new offices across Africa in line with its geographic expansion program. Currently, banks in Nigeria and Namibia are using IBM mainframes while Bharti Airtel has recently outsourced communication and technology support to the company.

The new system sold to Senegal, based on two IBM z10 mainframe computers, will provide customs officers access to across 30 border checkpoints. The previous system extended only to the Port of Dakar and Dakar Airport.