Google has appointed highly experienced Kabelo Makwane as its new country director for South Africa. Makwane, who currently serves as Managing Executive for Vodacom Business’s Cloud, Hosting, and Security business, will join Google early next year.
Google reiterated the trends of Makwane’s journey which proves his 20+ years of experience in the technology sector. “He also spent eight years at Microsoft in various roles including as country MD for Nigeria and public sector director in South Africa. He also served as Cisco’s regional manager for the public sector in South Africa for five years,” Google said in a statement.
Makwane will replace Alistair Mokoena, who will be leaving the country director position. Prior to Vodacom, Makwane served as the Managing Director of the Africa Global Unit at Accenture Operations and likewise held the role of Managing Director for cloud and technology consulting.
Reacting to the appointment, Makwane expressed his excitement about the new role and described Google as an innovative artificial intelligence space.
“Google is an impactful, AI-first company whose innovative products and services continue to accelerate personal and economic development in Africa. 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,” said Makwane.
Moreover, the Managing Director of Google Africa, Alex Okosi, welcomed Makwane’s appointment.
“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,” he said.
The widely respected leader in the industry has an MBA from Wits Business School and a BCom from the University of KwaZulu-Natal. Makwane also spent eight years at Microsoft in various roles including as Country Managing Director for Nigeria and the Public Sector Director in South Africa. He served as Cisco’s Regional Manager for Public Sector in South Africa for five years.
Makwane’s appointment amidst a tough time for Google
Kabelo Makwane’s appointment comes amidst a period when Google is struggling to keep its ownership of Chrome browser, a subsidiary of Google. In November, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) moved to file a suit on the sale of Chrome following claims that Google illegally monopolized its search engine market. The price, which could sell for $20 billion, will go down as a downfall for Google – one of the world’s biggest tech companies.
According to Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Mandeep Singh, Chrome had been estimated to be worth “at least $15-$20 billion, given it has over 3 billion monthly active users.”
A judge of the DoJ, Amit Mehta also requires the implementation of a measure related to its artificial intelligence and Android smartphone operating system. The continued suit filed in August against the tech giant claimed that the Chrome web browser had been a key for Google’s ads business. It also claimed that the company is able to see activity from signed-in users and use that data to more effectively target promotions, which generate the bulk of its revenue.
Antitrust officials, who have joined the case have recommended to Judge Mehta also to include the imposition of data licensing requirements. This will bring about a reshaping of the online search market and the burgeoning AI industry.
Antitrust enforcers have been pushing to make the company sell off Chrome, following claims that the company has been using the web browser to monitor and access users’ gateways. However, the US government still has the option to decide whether a Chrome sale is necessary at a later date. Government attorneys met with dozens of companies over the past three months as they prepared the recommendation.
Reacting to the development, Google said in a blog post that if other companies owned Chrome, they wouldn’t have the initiative to invest as heavily in it or keep it free.
“Breaking up these companies is not going to fundamentally address the annoyance you have with them,” the company said.
Meanwhile, sources had it that the agency and the states have settled on recommending that Google be required to license the results and data from its search engine. It will also ask the company to prevent its content from being used by Google’s artificial intelligence products.
Read More: Google may be forced to sell Chrome for up to $20 billion.
Technext Newsletter
Get the best of Africa’s daily tech to your inbox – first thing every morning.
Join the community now!
