Keagile Makgoba is what happens when ambition meets opportunity in tech

Keagile Makgoba (Kea) has built her career by stepping into rooms before she fully understood how to belong in them. 

Long before she became Head of Communications at TikTok, the South African township girl had big dreams that were definitely bigger than her, but she kept learning a unique kind of persuasion at different seasons of her life.

“To make ends meet at the university, I did odd jobs such as handing out pamphlets at traffic lights. I did brand promotion jobs and worked in retail stores, which helped build my people skills. During this time, I also landed a cool student job in social media management, doing what is now officially called “community management” for alcohol brands on Facebook. I used to get paid according to how well the campaign performed,” Keagile Makgoba said in an interview with Technext.

That instinct and the willingness to move before certainty arrived have quietly shaped almost every defining decision of her life. However, the course that would eventually define her career was never part of the original plan.

In 2009, Kea received a university bursary from First National Bank in South Africa before she had even secured admission into a university. The pressure was immediate and scary, as she recalled. 

Then came two acceptance emails: one from the University of the Witwatersrand and another from the University of Johannesburg.

The initial plan was to study Marketing at Wits. Instead, she found herself standing at a registration desk at the University of Johannesburg beside her mother, being told the course was already full. Meanwhile, at Wits, she had been accepted for Media Studies. 

Neither option felt particularly clear. So she made a decision that, in hindsight, feels characteristic of how she approaches life. 

“I told the course coordinator to place me in any course that had space so I could finalise the bursary,” she says. The course coordinator suggested BA Corporate Communications. “I remember that day clearly. I was with my mom. I told her to place me in it, and I’ll figure out what it is later. She did,” Makgoba added.

What started as an improvised decision became the foundation of a career that later moved across investor relations, media strategy, corporate communications, digital marketing, and eventually one of the world’s most influential tech platforms — TikTok.

But at the time, none of that was visible yet. She was simply a South African township girl trying to stay afloat financially while finishing university.

Three years later, the University of Johannesburg awarded her an Honours bursary. As part of the agreement, she worked as a Communications tutor while completing her postgraduate studies. 

Then, in 2013, another door opened. She secured an internship at MultiChoice South Africa, where she was introduced to the machinery of media relations, crisis management, and corporate storytelling.

“This is where I really honed my skills,” Kea said.

How Kea was learning in rooms before owning them

People skills, salesmanship, and the ability to sell ice to an Eskimo are the skills that have been most critical to Kea’s career growth.

Before joining the tech industry full-time, she spent nearly six years at Instinctif Partners, a UK-headquartered consultancy specialising in investor relations and corporate communications. The role exposed her to a different world entirely.

“In this capacity, I provided strategic guidance to C-suite executives, assisting them in navigating their stock exchange listing ambitions and investor management efforts across South Africa, Botswana, and the United Kingdom,” She explained.

During this period, she learnt precision, the discipline of executive communication and the art of navigating high-stakes corporate environments. But after years of discussing shareholder value, delistings, and headline earnings per share, restlessness began to creep in.

“After some time, I had gotten bored with communicating about ‘headline earning per share’ and the delisting of clients on the stock exchange. It became monotonous for me. That’s when I transitioned to the Corporate Communications desk and also qualified in Digital Marketing,” she added.

Looking back now, Kea sees her career less as a carefully linear progression and more as a collection of environments that trained her for the next one. 

Rather than waiting for perfect conditions or following a rigid professional roadmap, she learned how to navigate transitions, industries, and unfamiliar environments by building momentum as she moved. 

The result is a career defined less by predictability and more by adaptability, with a willingness to step into uncertainty and figure things out in real time.

How the community has shaped Kea’s career trajectory

If there is one thing Kea speaks about with complete certainty, it is the role the community has played in shaping her life. She often describes herself as “a product of the people around me,” a phrase that feels less like a cliché and more like the organising principle behind her career. 

Last December, she hosted a Thanksgiving ceremony at her family home and intentionally invited every person who had contributed to her journey in some way, no matter how small the role. 

“My success will never be mine alone. It belongs to my community too,” she said.

For her, support has never meant only professional opportunities. Sometimes, it looks like random messages from people she has not spoken to in years, reminding her that they are rooting for her. Other times, it looks like mentors mention her name in rooms she has never stepped into herself. 

“Knowing that someone put their name on the line for you forces you to move with clarity and hard work. It’s no longer just about you. It’s about them, too,” Kea added.

Her family remains at the centre of that support system. Raised by a mother determined to carry her children through difficult circumstances no matter the cost, she learned early that resilience was not optional. 

In 2021, after being diagnosed with episodic depression, she was forced to confront a different kind of challenge: learning to navigate uncertainty, anxiety, and the pressure of constantly trying to be everything for everyone. 

Over time, she says, she learned to welcome failure differently and to recognise that “there is beauty in uncertainty.”

Throughout the conversation, she returns repeatedly to the people who helped shape her. Mentors like Cherisse Rao-Varughese, who introduced her to the deeper meaning of mentorship and, incidentally, to her love for handbags. Sponsors like Dr Steven Zwane, who advocated for her for nearly two decades and Dr Sibongile Mkhize who played a huge role as her therapist and guide.

Friends and former colleagues like Fortune Mgwili-Sibanda, who helped shape her transition into tech. Leaders like Rola Abu Hassan, who, as Kea puts it, “saw the diamond and shone it” when she was still carrying the weight of difficult experiences.

But beyond the titles and professional relationships, what seems to matter most to her is being loved consistently by people who expect nothing in return. 

How Kea is building access for the next generation

Today, as Head of Communications at TikTok, Kea sits at the intersection of technology, storytelling, culture, and influence across Africa. But even now, she resists centring herself too heavily in conversations about success. 

“As a typical communications professional, I don’t really want people to be interested in me per se. I want people to be interested in the work and the value I bring. Through me, the communications function gets a seat at the table. That’s what matters most,” Keagile affirmed.

Much of what drives her now revolves around access, particularly for young Africans trying to imagine themselves in industries they have never physically encountered before. 

She is currently building initiatives focused on exposing young people to opportunities, networks, and career paths that often feel invisible from the outside.

Here is her advice to young African women in tech:

"The world of tech is so broad. I want young African women to explore this world in great detail. There are many ways to skin the "tech cat". I have noticed that in Africa, people think roles are limited to being an IT specialist of engineer of sorts. Find sponsors. Mentors will give you advice and a shoulder to lean on, which is vital. But sponsors are people in positions of power who will mention your name when opportunities arise behind closed doors. Leverage both local and global networks and communities," She said.

Read also: 7 women in tech who are inspiring the next generation for growth