
Roxana Ravjee joins Havas as its new CEO for the Africa region
She comes to Havas as a business leader with more than 20 years of expertise across marketing, advertising, transformation and growth.
SOCIAL MEDIA
By our African Marketing Confederation News Team | 2024
Company is bringing Pinterest’s digital advertising options to 11 new countries, including key sub-Saharan African markets.
Aleph, the global digital advertising company, has announced a sales partnership that will expand Pinterest’s digital advertising options to 11 new markets, including Nigeria and South Africa.
“As a leading visual search and discovery platform with over half a billion global monthly active users, Pinterest has become one of the top destinations for brands trying to reach customers looking to shop,” Aleph says in a statement.
Stephen A. Newton, Aleph’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa. Photo: Aleph
Aleph first partnered with Pinterest in 2023 to help brands in selected countries to launch cross-border advertising campaigns on the platform. The presence in Eastern and Central Europe has now been expanded to markets in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Latin America.
Pinterest is a visual-discovery social media platform for finding ideas for recipes, home styling, DIY and other categories. Based in the US city of San Francisco, it launched in 2010. Its approximately 500-million monthly active users (according to Pinterest Internal Data, Global analysis, Q2 2024) is around half that of Instagram, the dominant photo- and video-sharing app
“For the first time, brands in these markets will be able to reach millions of Pinterest users who come to the platform with a passion for discovering new ideas and the commercial intent to bring those ideas to life,” says Matt Hogle, Vice President of Global SMB Sales at Pinterest.
A great opportunity for brands and retailers
Adds Ignacio Vidaguren, Partner and COO at Aleph: “The ability to advertise on Pinterest in these markets will unlock a great opportunity for brands and retailers to reach new customers.”
Commenting on the Nigerian market, Stanislaus Martins, Aleph Managing Director for West Africa, says: “More Nigerians – 13.9% of the country’s internet users – are turning to platforms like Pinterest for content.
“While messaging remains the main social media use case, there is a growing diversity with new users leveraging these platforms for entrepreneurial ventures and opportunities. Our partnership aims to harness the potential of this expanding market and link local businesses with consumers in search of inspiration and products.”
Looking at the South African market, Stephen A. Newton, Aleph’s Managing Director for Sub-Saharan Africa, comments: “South Africa’s social media landscape is one of most vibrant and diverse on the continent, with the estimated 26-million users gravitating to an average of eight platforms per person.
“The growing popularity of Pinterest among local users – nearly half of social media users turn to the platform for inspiration each month – presents a unique opportunity for brands. This partnership allows us to tap into this engaged audience and provide them with the tools to discover and connect with businesses in a meaningful way.”

She comes to Havas as a business leader with more than 20 years of expertise across marketing, advertising, transformation and growth.

Online search behaviour has changed significantly with the rise of AI. How can African brands adapt to this new marketing landscape?

Researchers find three distinct reactions that explain why emotional content online can be so powerful – and have contradictory effects.

Strategic Marketing for Africa, the publication for deep-thinking African marketing professionals, is not to be missed.

Bank moves its focus from corporate and investment banking as it unveils plans to target retail customers and small businesses.

Uganda Marketers Society looks to the future as the new Board outlines its priorities for the next two years.

Brand continues a trend of food and beverage licensing moving into the beauty sector by collaborating on shower and lip-care products.

While the global marketing industry debates what the next big consumer trend might be, Africans are getting on with embracing major change.

Charmagne Mazhindu becomes Vice-President of Marketing for Wallmart-owned group that includes major brands such as Makro and Builders.

The Coca Cola Company has unveiled a new global Coke campaign called ‘The World Will Wait’ that’s aimed at Gen Z and Millennial audiences.

The port sits on one of the world’s busiest shipping routes and is showing steady growth as a major logistics hub.