diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 763a737a40bc..7e0d4f4c0c74 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -57,6 +57,10 @@ sim:
 	make -C src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src clean
 	make -C src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src
 
+# Build dependencies for the simulator target
+depend:
+	make -C src/qasm-simulator-cpp depend
+
 coverage_erase:
 	coverage erase
 
diff --git a/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/Makefile b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/Makefile
index 5adcb207bbd6..53c9ba61c31c 100644
--- a/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/Makefile
+++ b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/Makefile
@@ -5,5 +5,8 @@ all: sim
 sim: 
 	make -C src
 
+depend: 
+	./build_dependencies.sh
+
 clean:
-	make -C src clean
\ No newline at end of file
+	make -C src clean
diff --git a/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/build_dependencies.sh b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/build_dependencies.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000000..e7a29b0b11d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/build_dependencies.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+# build_dependencies.sh
+# 
+# Dependency installer for qiskit-sdk-py/src/qasm-simulator-cpp
+# Running the script:
+#   1. Run the script directly
+#     ./build_dependencies.sh  
+#   2. Alternatively, build the make depend target (See the Makefile)
+#     make depend
+#
+# .. note:: Tested on Ubuntu 16.04 only. 
+# ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 
+set -ex
+os_type=`uname -s`
+
+# Check who is the current user.
+USER=$(whoami)
+
+if [ ${USER} == "root" ]
+then
+  SUDOCMD=""
+else
+  SUDOCMD="sudo"
+fi
+
+# Check the OS Type
+echo "OS is $os_type"
+
+if [[ "$os_type" == "Darwin" ]]; then
+    ${SUDOCMD} xcode-select --install
+elif [[ "$os_type" == "Linux" ]]; then
+    echo "Installing dependencies on Linux"    
+    linux_distro=`cat /etc/*release | grep "ID_LIKE=" | cut -c9- | tr -d '"'`
+    if [[ "$linux_distro" == "debian" ]]; then
+        ${SUDOCMD} apt-get update
+        ${SUDOCMD} apt-get -y install build-essential libblas-dev liblapack-dev
+    elif [[ "$linux_distro" == "fedora" ]]; then
+        ${SUDOCMD} yum update
+        ${SUDOCMD} yum -y install devtoolset-6 blas blas-devel lapack lapack-devel
+        ${SUDOCMD} scl enable devtoolset-6 bash
+    else
+        echo "Unsupported linux distro: $linux_distro"
+    fi
+fi
diff --git a/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src/Makefile b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src/Makefile
index 8938f28a7af1..9bb7751dc6ca 100644
--- a/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src/Makefile
+++ b/src/qasm-simulator-cpp/src/Makefile
@@ -6,13 +6,18 @@ OUTPUT_DIR = ../../../out/src/qasm-simulator-cpp
 CC = g++
 
 # Use Homebrew GNU g++ for enabling OpenMP on macOS
-
 OS:=$(shell uname)
 GCC7:=$(shell g++-7 --version | grep ^'command not found')
 ifeq ($(OS)$(GCC7),Darwin)
 	CC = g++-7
 endif
 
+# -march not supported on ppc64le (Power). Use -mcpu instead
+ARCH:=$(shell uname -m)
+ifeq ($(ARCH),ppc64le)
+	OPT = -O3 -mcpu=native -ffast-math
+endif
+
 # Check if compiler is Apple LLVM and doesn't support OpenMP
 APPLELLVM = $(shell ${CC} --version | grep ^Apple)
 ifeq ($(APPLELLVM),)
@@ -50,6 +55,9 @@ sim: main.o
 sim_debug: main.o
 	$(CC) -g $(CPPFLAGS) $(DEFINES) -o ${OUTPUT_DIR}/qasm_simulator_cpp_debug ${OUTPUT_DIR}/main.o $(LIBS)
 
+depend: 
+	../build_dependencies.sh
+
 clean:
 	rm -rf ${OUTPUT_DIR}