Company Presence in Africa: IBM
- Juanita CEESAY
- Mar 23, 2012
- 3 min read
Company Overview One of the companies making a surge into the African domain is that of International Business Machines (IBM ). Though the company has had a presence in the region for more than 50 years, in no point in time has IBM aggressively pushed their “Africa Agenda” as much as in recent years. According to the company’s Global Innovative Outlook for this year:
“Africa, and its population of over 900 million, has worked its way into the global dialogue on economic opportunity. And while there are still many obstacles to be overcome, Africa is fast becoming a legitimate force in the global economy, thanks in part to an abundance of natural resources, a steadily growing economy, and some long-awaited political stability”.
The company also has a Corporate Service Corps (CSC) program aimed at developing IBM leaders and providing skills assistance to local governments and non-government organizations in emerging markets, IBM will send about 600 employees to Africa through 2015.
Job Jobs Jobs! For the African Expatriate IBM is expanding its presence all over Africa, and is doing so with one of the most aggressive strategies of any Fortune 500 company operating in the region. For example, most foreign companies entering the African market space start of in regional hubs such as Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, etc. However in the case of IBM,, the company is also targeting smaller emerging economies such as Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Cameroon, Gabon, Burkina Faso etc.
Case Study: IBM in Sierra Leone and The Gambia Given the nature of my job, I am very privy to the latest developments taking place on the continent, in relation to foreign companies coming in to do business. As such, roughly two months ago, I started work on a project for IBM setting up shop in Sierra Leone. IBM has partnered with a local cell phone operator, Bharti Airtel, to as they call it “transform the mobile communications market in Sierra Leone and fuel local economic development”.
– IBM Expatriates were sent to Sierra Leone in mostly Telecommunications and IT focused positions such as “Global Technical Mentor, Lead”, “Lead Quality Trainer”.
This week, another IBM project hit my desk, and this time the company is starting work on a long term project in The Gambia. Once again, IBM Expatriates will be sent in for the project, and they will be recruited from IBM’s India offices.
Current Job Opening in IBM Africa If you are interested in employment within IBM Africa, I highly encourage you to go for it. As the Company Execs have said themselves, “IBM is experiencing a severe skills shortage for their Africa operations, and have resolved to using intra-company transfers to fill in the skills gap”. See IBM HR Manager for Africa’s remarks: http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/talent-grab-how-top-companies-are-managing-africas-skills-shortage/15372/
Country Position Business Unit Posting Date GH, KE, NG Grad. Leadership Dev.Prog. HR; Sales & Dist. 02/24/2012
Angola Client Technical Prof. Software Sales 02/20/2012
SA Bus. Operations Manager Strategic Outsourcing 03/15/2012
SA IBM Brand System Prof. Marketing; S&D 03/15/2012
TZ, MA Telecom Subject Matter Exp. GTS & GBS 02/23/2012
** The above are samples of current openings within IBM Africa. Please click on link below to be directed to current openings per country. Another note worthy info: ** Guillermo Miranda, HR Director – IBM Talent for Africa https://jobs3.netmedia1.com/cp/find.ibm.jobs/location/
Good Luck Everyone! Let me know if I can be of further assistance 🙂
IBM’s Johannesburg, SA campus…..conveniently located in downtown Sandton.
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