EXECUTIVE APPOINTMENTS

Africa-focused OOH media company Primedia Outdoor appoints new CEO

By our News Team | 2023

Business exec Bongumusa Makhathini takes over the reins to drive company’s growth strategy in South Africa and elsewhere on the continent.

Africa-focused OOH media company Primedia Outdoor has appointed Bongumusa Makhathini as its new Chief Executive Officer. The company is a market leader in the sector and has more than 19,000 advertising assets across the continent – including high-end digital displays, freeway and suburban signage, street furniture and static advertising.

Makhathini, who is based in South Africa, is described as a “seasoned executive” with more than 15 years of experience in both the private and SOE sectors.

Photo courtesy of Primedia Group

“He is an accomplished businessman with a finely attuned aptitude for operational excellence and a solid track record in socially responsible business development and transformation,” Primedia Outdoor says in a media statement. The Primedia Group also comprises a broadcasting business with multiple radio stations and a radio news service.

Makhathini was appointed following an intensive executive search by international headhunting specialist Egon Zehnder.

He has served on the boards of British American Tobacco, South African Breweries, the Sports Trust, the Ekurhuleni World Outreach Centre Advisory Board, the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC), health sector NGO Pink Drive, and SAtion, a social enterprise that promotes economic development.

Attended the famous Harvard Business School

Makhathini holds a Master’s Degree in Commerce and an Honours Degree in Economic Geography. He is also a graduate of the Harvard Business School’s General Management Programme.

He takes over from Dave Roberts, who now serves as the Chairman of Primedia Outdoor and also heads up mergers and acquisitions (M&A) at Primedia Group.

“The Primedia Group’s business resilience, expansion and re-invention is the work of courageous leadership and I am honoured to be joining this exemplary team,” Makhathini said.

“I have watched as Primedia has elevated business excellence and innovation not only in the broadcasting sector, but in the growing and highly contested outdoor media sector. Over recent years, Primedia Outdoor has led and reinvigorated the entire industry, both in South Africa and beyond.”

According to PwC’s Africa Entertainment and Media Outlook 2022-2026, OOH in the key African markets of South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria will show modest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through to 2026. However, it is facing increased competition from new media platforms and technologies.

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