Melanesia is about thirteen million people across five territories, with a regional organisation binding them since 1986, and almost no technology provider treating it seriously as a whole. Providers elsewhere see either markets too small to bother with, or distant extensions of Australia. We are from here.
The Melanesian Spearhead Group has brought together Papua New Guinea, Fiji, Vanuatu, Solomon Islands and New Caledonia — represented by the FLNKS — since 1986. Its secretariat sits in Port Vila. It is a real institutional framework with trade agreements, not a convenient geographic label.
These territories share constraints that outside providers treat as edge cases: uneven connectivity, cyclone seasons that are scheduled rather than surprising, distance between islands, economies weighted toward tourism and resources, and business communities where everyone wears several hats.
| Territory | Population | GDP per capita | What that means |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🇳🇨 New Caledonia | ~270,000 | ~USD 34,000 | The most solvent market. Our base. |
| 🇵🇬 Papua New Guinea | ~10.8M | ~USD 2,630 | The giant. Two-speed economy: resources and banking solvent, the rest heavily constrained. |
| 🇫🇯 Fiji | ~930,000 | ~USD 6,800 | The most digitally advanced. International tourism can pay. |
| 🇻🇺 Vanuatu | ~320,000 | ~USD 3,300 | Small market, almost no competition. |
| 🇸🇧 Solomon Islands | ~800,000 | ~USD 2,200 | The most constrained. Institutions and NGOs more than SMEs. |
Put plainly: Melanesia is not one homogeneous market and we will not pretend otherwise. Purchasing power varies by a factor of fifteen between Nouméa and Honiara. That is exactly why a single price list makes no sense.
We price per territory, against real purchasing power. A rate calibrated on New Zealand closes four of these five markets — and a closed market serves nobody.
The principle is simple and we state it: the rate follows the market, the work does not change. Same code, same documentation, same standard. Charging less to quietly deliver less would be dishonest.
AI running on your own machine keeps working when the link drops. In this region that is not a convenience — it is a selection criterion. How it works.
Client files, records, accounts: they do not travel to a server twelve thousand kilometres away. A security question, and a sovereignty one.
When a system stops on a Tuesday morning, someone is awake. A European or Asian provider adds a day to every exchange.
French and English depending on the territory, because the region is. Not translation bolted on afterwards.
Kanaky Tech is a New Caledonian company, registered in New Caledonia, founded by someone from here. Our most visible work is not commercial: it is the Kanak languages dictionary, bringing together nine languages, nearly twenty thousand words and native-speaker recordings.
We mention it for a specific reason. The question of where a region's data lives — its businesses, its institutions, its languages — and who controls it is not an infrastructure question. It is a question about power. We built that dictionary taking it seriously, and we build our clients' systems the same way.
A Pacific region comprising Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and New Caledonia. Since 1986 those five have formed the Melanesian Spearhead Group, a regional organisation with trade agreements and a secretariat in Port Vila. Around thirteen million people in total.
Because purchasing power varies by a factor of fifteen between New Caledonia and Solomon Islands. A single rate calibrated on the wealthiest market would close the other four. The delivery does not change: same code, same documentation, same standard.
Yes. Melanesia is bilingual by nature — French in New Caledonia, English in Fiji, PNG and Solomon Islands, both in Vanuatu. Our pages and systems follow. For local languages we are cautious and say so: current models handle them poorly, and review by fluent speakers remains necessary.
No. We work remotely from Nouméa and Auckland, with travel where it helps. Where regular on-site presence is decisive for you, a local provider is the better choice — and we say so on each country page rather than implying otherwise.
Kanaky Tech is an AI automation agency working across New Zealand and the Pacific. Start with a free AI opportunity audit: we map how your business actually runs, rank what is worth automating, and give you a clear scope before anything is built — no obligation.