Media company, GroupM, has announced the expansion of its GroupM Academy GradX program to Kenya and Nigeria, with plans to add other markets in the future. The program was established in South Africa in 2020.
The company has also appointed a steering committee for SSA to harmonize processes across owned offices and affiliates.
In its first year, GroupM Academy’s 11 graduates have been absorbed internally at GroupM. The company intends 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 program is to nurture the new generation of media and marketing experts of the future. In Sub Sahara Africa, media talent is limited, 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.
They include
- Serah Katusia and Hemang Doshi from East and Central Africa.
- Seni Adetu from Nigeria.
- Ashish Williams, Lwandile Qokweni, Zia Namooya and Derek Sim from South Africa.
The committee will be chaired by Federico de Nardis, CEO, GroupM Sub-Saharan Africa. The committee will also 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.
Federico de Nardis, GroupM Sub-Saharan Africa CEO said, “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 in order to help our clients grow their businesses.”