TransUnion Africa, Dun & Bradstreet partner to boost SME sector

Hans Zachar, 'vice president for solutions at TransUnion Africa

Hans Zachar, TransUnion Africa's vice president for solutions, said the partnership would give SMEs access to two key Dun & Bradstreet services, D&B Hoovers and DataVision. Hoovers is a web-based lead prospecting tool that allows companies to build local and global pipelines, and DataVision helps companies assess markets and develop entry strategies through powerful data analytics.

“Right now, African businesses need help not just to survive, but to manage and grow their operations, both domestically and globally. As businesses grow and expand their horizons beyond local markets, having access to the necessary tools is critical. This partnership makes the solutions needed accessible to African businesses to help them on their international growth journey,” said Zachar.

The partnership gives TransUnion Africa the exclusive distribution rights for Dun & Bradstreet products across South Africa, Kenya, Botswana, Namibia, Eswatini and Namibia.

“Dun & Bradstreet helps solve critical pain points for SMEs and corporates across the world,” said Sabine Leferink, general manager of Dun & Bradstreet’s global network. “This is an exciting moment for TransUnion and Dun & Bradstreet as this partnership makes South African businesses visible on the global stage as well as giving those same businesses access to international trade opportunities.”

D&B Hoovers and DataVision help businesses organise their own data, and combine it with 400 million international D&B sourced records. This allows companies to get on with running their businesses rather than cleaning up spreadsheets.

“The African SMEs we’re talking to are keen to create a single view of their customers and prospects to identify local and international growth strategies, but siloed and old data is getting in the way of their ability to make the right strategic decisions. By combining TransUnion’s insights and expertise with the power of Dun & Bradstreet’s, they’re far better able to compete on a global stage,” said Zachar.

“If you are looking to jump-start your business, or accelerate its growth into global export markets or the e-commerce space, the Dun & Bradstreet platforms give you an intuitive experience to decide which markets you should enter and which customers you should reach out to in those markets.”