Cisco on Monday announced Africa leadership appointments to underpin its Commitment to the Continent with Dare Ogunlade named as general manager for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia and Sierra Leone, effective June 2013.
Lagos based Dare Ogunlade will report directly to Carlos Marques, general manager, Sub-Saharan Africa.
Dare joined Cisco Nigeria in October 2006 as an account manager for service provider, before becoming MTN Strategic Account leader for Nigeria and Ghana in 2011.
He is vastly experienced in structuring complex deals and therefore brings the wealth of knowledge and expertise required to accelerate the growth in Nigeria region.
Career opportunities and employee growth are very important to Dare, as he attributes his own personal career growth at Cisco to the strong mentoring that he has benefited from over the years.
One of his objectives is to ensure that the Nigerian team members have the same opportunity to fulfill their career aspirations.
Dare holds a degree in Electrical Engineering and also an MBA from Lagos Business School. He is married and has two children.
Focused on Growth in Africa Cisco also announced the appointments of David Meads to the role of Cisco’s Vice President (VP) for Africa responsible for the company’s go-to-market strategy across the continent and Sabrina Dar as general manager, Sales for Cisco East Africa (including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia).
Africa, with its population of over one billion, is experiencing a business boom, based on solid fundamentals which include growth outpacing most of the world, a rising young population of workers and consumers, plus global demand for the continent’s commodities.
As Cisco’s VP for Africa, Meads will be looking at how technology can drive country transformational opportunities within this environment, in particular broadband penetration, and help accelerate governments’ agendas.
Newly appointed general manager, for Cisco in East Africa, Sabrina Dar will also report directly to Carlos Marques. With more than 10 years’ experience in finance, strategy, marketing and sales with Cisco, Sabrina has worked on Cisco’s Emerging Theatre Partner Organization, and was also, as the marketing lead for Cisco’s London 2012 Olympics sponsorship, where she worked as part of the team, which enabled Cisco to deliver the highest rated customer experience for a Cisco-led event.
In his comment, Dare, said: “Cisco is committed to supporting West Africa, as a significant contributor to its overall business success and I am delighted to have been appointed to lead this region and take our focus to the next level. These are exciting times for ICT growth in West Africa as our governments are placing a major focus on country transformation and driving societal change and Cisco is partnering with both government and businesses to support this new wave of societal evolution. I look forward to being part of it.”
David Meads, vice president for Africa, Cisco expressed: “My key objective is to drive Cisco’s strategy to support African country innovation, prosperity, sustainability, and social inclusion through the building of life-changing networks. Ultimately, Cisco wants to enable customers, nations and organizations in Africa to be more competitive through the adoption and use of technology.
“Africa is a challenge with its varied markets, cultures and regulatory frameworks, but Cisco strongly believes that the most significant opportunity is to catch up and overtake other countries and leverage broadband as a platform for socio and economic transformation using the network to improve lives, empower citizens and make businesses more competitive. I am confident that with our new leadership in East and West Africa we will be able to define our focus and make a significant difference.”