Mark Davison at Oracle OpenWorld, San Francisco – Oracle president, Mark Hurd, revealing that the company had more than $39-billion in cash after its first quarter, hinted that Africa could well be on its radar for future investment.
Answering questions at a PartnerNetwork keynote, Hurd was asked directly where Oracle would be looking to invest the $39-billion it has on hand.
“We try not to be discriminatory from a geographic perspective with our investments, “ Hurd replied. “Two years ago, for example, we made a big investment in Europe when everyone else was avoiding that marketplace. Who invested? We did.
“My view is that when we see a certain economy dip then that is the time to increase distribution,” he says. “People keep the drive to purchase, they just defray it, and if you’re not in when that economy gets better then you won’t get them. We defied gravity in Europe and now we are looking at big investments in terms of sales and distribution in Eastern Europe, Africa – MEA – and Latin America.
“It is important to invest not when the economy is like this (indicating upward), but when there is a bit of a downturn.
“You’ll see some significant investments from Oracle in the coming months,” he says. “It won’t show on our P&L, but you will see more going to markets that are emerging in various regions.”