With nearly a decade in the shipping industry, Evans Ngala, group ICT manager at Express Shipping & Logistics (EA) is challenging the one-size-fits-all approach to tech, pushing for solutions that actually work for East Africa.
“Most tech solutions pushed into East Africa don’t fit and even fewer are built for the shipping industry,” Evans Ngala says. The group ICT manager at Express Shipping & Logistics (EA) is not just venting – he’s pointing to a real challenge that has stalled progress for many businesses in the region.
With nearly a decade of experience in logistics, Evans has seen global vendors push advanced tools into markets that simply aren’t ready for them. The solutions, he says, often come with big promises but fail to account for the infrastructure limitations, user needs or sector-specific unique demands of local organisations. In shipping, where operations like cargo consolidation and transport tracking are critical, Evans says the gap is even wider.
He has spent the last several years helping ESL Group grow from two physical offices to 10. During that time, he led the company’s migration from on-prem QuickBooks to Sage 200, implemented Microsoft 365 and introduced Azure cloud infrastructure. Despite this progress, he says the hunt for tech that truly understands the shipping and logistics space continues.
Evans didn’t always plan to work in IT. “I landed in it based on the grades I got,” he says with a laugh. He studied computer science and technology, began his career in hospitality, then moved into shipping where he has stayed ever since. Today, he heads the ICT function across the group and also supports the company’s digital marketing function. The work is high-pressure and spread across four countries, but with regional support staff and remote operations, they keep things running. Strategic travel fills in the rest.
On artificial intelligence, Evans is refreshingly candid. He believes IT leaders have overcomplicated the concept and missed the chance to bring others along. “We’ve failed to simplify what AI actually means,” he says. Instead, he has focused on making it practical, using training to break down the jargon and show how AI is already embedded in basic company processes.
Sharing experiences
Cybersecurity has also evolved under his leadership. The company started with basic systems like Linux boxes and minimal firewall protection, but now operates with Cisco firewalls, smart alerts, VPN layers and a full Microsoft cloud suite.
While the tech is better, Evans believes knowledge sharing still lags. Too many IT leaders, he says, work in silos and don’t get timely updates about emerging threats or how to prepare for them.
That’s one reason he sees great potential in CITO East Africa, the emerging peer community for IT leaders in the region. Experience sharing, he believes, is the most valuable benefit. “You need to know which vendors actually work in different countries, what solutions failed and what would have made them succeed,” he says.
But he also cautions that communities need to protect their credibility. He once bought a $5,000 printer based on a glowing pitch, only to discover the spare part cost $10,000. “That’s what happens when you don’t vet well. One bad experience can ruin trust in the whole community,” he says.
When he’s not solving tech puzzles or navigating cross-border systems, Evans unwinds with long runs. “I do leisure runs to decompress or plan my day. Ten kilometres is enough to fix my head,” he says with a grin. He also enjoys reading, though not always tech material. “Sometimes it’s just random topics to clear the mind.”
