by Thinus Ferreira
Google has appointed Kabelo Makwane as its new South Africa country director from 6 January 2025.
He replaces Dr Alistair Mokoena who served in the position from April 2020 until July 2024.
Kabelo Makwane joins Google from Vodacom Business where is currently the managing executive for Vodacom's cloud, hosting and security business.
The exec has over 20 years of experience in the technology sector.
Prior to Vodacom, Kabelo Makwane was managing director for the Africa Global Unit at Accenture Operations, and also held the
role of managing director for Cloud and Technology Consulting.
Kabelo Makwane also spent 8 years at
Microsoft in various roles including as country managing director for Nigeria
and the public sector director in South Africa. He also served as Cisco's regional manager for public sector in South Africa for 5 years.
"I'm excited to join the team in South Africa and to help more people and businesses get more out of AI, the internet, and technology in general," says Kabelo Makwane.
Alex Okosi, Google Africa managing director, says "We are thrilled to
welcome Kabelo as he joins us at an
incredibly exciting time for both Africa and Google".
"With digital
transformation accelerating across the continent, we are poised to leverage the
power of AI to deliver innovative solutions that enable our users, partners and
advertisers to thrive in this dynamic era. We're thrilled to have Kabelo join our leadership team."
Kabelo Makwane, holds an MBA from Wits Business
School (WBS) and a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from the University of
KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN).
