By Dipo Olowookere
An expert in the information technology, oil and gas and energy industries, Ms Julia Carvalho, has been appointed to lead business operations of IBM in Africa.
She was chosen as the General Manager for IBM Growth Markets in Africa based on her deep knowledge of the African continent with more than 20 years of extensive local and international experience.
“Africa is a continent with tremendous opportunities that is undergoing fast-paced transformation,” said Ms Carvalho. “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with clients and our ecosystem partners to build technology for Africa’s unique needs.”
She holds a PhD in Engineering and Masters in Georesources Engineering from the School of Engineering, Science and Technology (Instituto Superior Técnico) at the University of Lisbon.
Prior to her appointment as General Manager, IBM Growth Markets, Africa Ms Carvalho held the position of General Manager for Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde and Sao Tome. She helped expand IBM’s footprint and led the digital transformation journeys of clients around our key strategic imperatives of Hybrid Cloud and AI.
Before joining IBM, she led sales at Halliburton – Landmark Software and Services and previously served as a Professor and Researcher at the University of Lisbon.
In prior roles, she was a consultant with Sonangol P&P and Sonagas and led the Natural Resources business unit at Sinfic in Angola.
Under her new role, she will be expected to grow IBM’s partner ecosystem and drive client satisfaction across multiple regions in Africa.
With an increased focus on the partner ecosystem in Africa, Ms Carvalho will lead the drive to strengthen the IBM business on the continent through a deeper level of technical expertise and industry experience to build growth for our company, clients and partners on the continent.
“Julia’s extensive knowledge of technology and the African continent will bring unique value as we help our clients accelerate their digital transformations in the era of hybrid cloud, Data and AI. As a senior leader, her focus on IBM’s increased investment in our partner ecosystem will also enable our partners to play a more significant role in support of our clients’ agendas,” said Saad Toma, General Manager, IBM Middle East and Africa.
