Abey Mokgwatsane | Influence 100

Abey Mokgwatsane

Managing Executive of Brand
Vodacom
South Africa

 

 

Before joining Vodacom—Africa’s largest telecommunications provider—in 2017 to oversee the brand across South Africa, Lesotho, Mozambique, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Abey Mokgwatsane was CEO of Ogilvy & Mather South Africa for five years, where he drove the agency’s digital integration, including acquiring Gloo Digital.

Known as a transformative leader, he has helped to enhance Vodacom’s digital positioning, with a heavy emphasis on purpose—a personal priority. Earlier this year, he told Investec: “The key attribute that I’m looking for, in any company that I work for is whether my purpose is aligned to what the company’s purpose is. Because the rest is just transactional.”
 
It’s not the first time Mokgwatsane has been in-house: he was also a brand manager at South African Breweries (SAB) and brand group manager for Miller Genuine Draft, widely credited with the successful launch of the brand into the South African market.