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SAS, the leader in analytics, present in Africa since 1995, has announced the appointment of Essie Mokgonyana as the Country Manager & Sales Director for the brand in South Africa. This appointment comes in line with SAS’s strategy towards investing in growing the organisation in South Africa driven by the market needs for advanced analytics, AI and cloud-based solutions.

Essie Mokgonyana brings 15+ years of experience in technical roles within the IT industry, with a strong focus on sales and business development, working with clients in Public Sector as well as Telecommunications and Banking sectors. Additionally, having served as an executive, non-executive and Trustee board member before, Essie has a strong working knowledge of mapping local business governance practices to be in line with those of the multinational business and the state rules of the country.

Commenting on the appointment, Zafir Junaid, Regional Director, Africa & Emerging Middle East, said: “We are very proud and excited to welcome Essie to the SAS family! Essie is an admirable professional and, with her dedication towards delivering results and developing the teams she manages, it is not surprising that Essie has excelled in her career path. Essie’s background in the IT industry and experience across multiple sectors aligns well with our strategy in South Africa and Africa as a high growth market.”

“I am delighted to join SAS – and at such a transformational time. Never before have we experienced such rapid rates of digital transformation in all tiers of society – from government to business and industry, and consumers. And Africa is no exception when it comes to witnessing the potential of digital transformation, particularly during the past 2+ years. I am looking forward to working with our teams, partners and clients to realise the enormous potential we still have to further transform both public and private organisations through adoption of our advanced analytics, AI and cloud-based solutions,” says Essie Mokgonyana, SAS Country Manager & Sales Director for South Africa.

SAS will continue to help public and private organisations across Africa adopt cloud platforms to tap into the full potential of their analytic capabilities and resources to accelerate innovation and higher operational efficiencies. The cloud-first strategy spearheaded by SAS supports organisations in moving to a cloud-driven environment to eliminate physical and financial barriers to align with evolving business goals and advance in their digital transformation journey.

Because the SAS portfolio is both cloud-first and cloud-agnostic, or cloud-portable, customers can accelerate their move to the cloud and expand their use of analytics, machine learning and AI. SAS analytics in the cloud provides customers with a distinct advantage to analyse intense data in the cloud, whether they’re using SAS Viya or an industry solution.

Mokgonyana is confident that SAS is moving into a new phase of growth locally. “The news that the SAS Institute South Africa achieved Level 1 BBBEE status reaffirmed our commitment as an organisation to the local business and economy, and solidified SAS’ position as a preferred partner to our clients and partners. Over and above our focus and commitment to client, SAS is dedicated to accelerating its work of empowering talent across the region and playing its part in developing ICT skills. Additionally, SAS is also committed to using analytics to build a sustainable future in Africa.”

In Africa, achieving sustainability cannot be separated from social and economic issues. As more African nations evaluate and start to formulate their “net zero economy" aspirations, Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) principles have come under the spotlight in every sphere of government, business and society. In support of this, SAS will continue to bolster the way it uses technology and expertise to help governments and businesses in the region amplify their ESG initiatives and contribute towards realising their ambitions.

With governments and businesses seeking innovative ways of navigating paradigm shifts in local economies brought by climate risks, SAS will lead the roadmap to discover new opportunities, become future-proof and overcome challenges in education, finance, healthcare, energy, agriculture, government, telecommunications and retail sectors using Analytics and AI.