GroupM has expanded its Academy GradX programme to more African markets and has appointed a subcommittee to manage growth in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).
To meet the needs of an expanding market, GroupM SSA has extended the GroupM Academy GradX programme established in South Africa in 2020 to Kenya and Nigeria with plans to add other markets in the future. Furthermore, GroupM’s newly appointed steering committee for SSA will harmonise processes across owned offices and affiliates.
According to Federico de Nardis, GroupM Sub-Saharan Africa CEO, ‘GroupM has had a strong and direct presence in all key markets in SSA for a long time. With this market expansion, we’ve recently taken a number of decisions to strengthen our focus on three strategic pillars of people, data and technology to help our clients grow their businesses.’
In its first year, GroupM Academy’s 11 graduates have been absorbed internally at GroupM and the intention is to position future available graduates to clients and affiliate partners in the region. Speaking about the Academy, Serah Katusia, GroupM and Mediacom MD East and Central Africa commented, ‘The aim of the programme is to nurture the new generation of media and marketing experts of the future. In Sub Saharan Africa, media talent is limited and we want to drive this agenda from the front. We believe that strengthening our teams as well as those of our clients and partners in emerging media markets sets us apart in the continent.’
The steering committee includes all senior leaders from GroupM and the agency networks Mediacom, Mindshare and Wavemaker in the key markets, namely Serah Katusia and Hemang Doshi from East and Central Africa; Seni Adetu from Nigeria; and Ashish Williams, Lwandile Qokweni, Zia Namooya and Derek Sim from South Africa. The committee will be chaired by de Nardis. The steering committee will leverage all the important data and technology investments done by the group at global and regional level to benefit local and international clients in Sub-Saharan Africa.
