Cisco names Siyabonga Madyibi GAD for Africa

Worldwide leader in Information Technology (IT), Cisco Africa, has named Mr Siyabonga Madyibi as its first-ever Government Affairs Director (GAD) for Africa, reports ITRealms.

In his new role, ITRealms reports that Siyabonga, who has over 14 years’ experience in telecom policy, will lead Cisco's government affairs and public policy strategy in Africa, engaging with top government officials and key policy makers in Africa. 

ITRealms also reports that he would be focusing initially on South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria by working in close partnership and alignment with Cisco’s Africa Leadership team, led by David Meads, the Vice President for Africa at Cisco, on policies and relationships that will advance Cisco’s businesses on the continent. 

Reacting to his appointment, Mr. Madyibi said, he looks forward to leading Cisco’s Government Affairs programme in Africa given its important and integral role in Cisco’s strategy for growth in Africa.

“With the technology market currently growing at an exponential rate and governments playing an important role helping to develop the opportunities that are being created, Cisco aims to actively partner with government departments to help drive this growth and build on these opportunities,” he said.

Cisco, ITRealms gathered noted that as the home to nine of the world’s fifteen fastest growing economies, Africa is ripe for transformation making it an increasingly attractive environment for global business investments.

Technology, Cisco officials asserted to ITRealms, is at an inflection point, in which it can transform African economies and create many new opportunities, with the increased digitization of countries.  Subsequently, governments throughout the continent are now increasingly becoming aware of the importance of growth in ICT and the benefits it can offer. 

Cisco projects that 50 billion devices - or “things” - will be connected to the internet by 2020, offering a platform for African countries to use this to achieve greater broadband penetration across the continent leading to improvements that will better social and economic prosperity for its citizens.

For the past decade Siyabonga has led the government and regulatory strategy for Dimension Data in Africa. Before that, he worked with the South African Regulator, ICASA, and for MTN, one of the leading mobile operators in the telecoms sector in Africa. Siyabonga holds a BA Law degree from the University of Cape Town and an LLB degree from the University of Natal.

Equally speaking, Pastora Valero, Senior Director, Government Affairs, Cisco Europe, Middle East & Africa and Russia CIS (EMEAR) said they are delighted to have Siyabonga on board especially at a time when they are witnessing considerable growth and investment in ICT throughout Africa which makes proactive engagement with governments a vital strategic imperative for us at Cisco.

“I look forward to working with him as a key contributor to our global Government Affairs team as we actively support African governments in the drive to increase access to affordable, reliable technology,” Valero said.

+Remmy Nweke (ITRealms) +Cisco  @CiscoNigeria
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