Dentsu makes two new senior appointments to its African business

With 14 years’ experience within Dentsu, she has played an integral part in the expansion of the company across the African continent and, in 2016, her exceptional results saw her become one of Dentsu Africa’s youngest directors.

Moving forward, Marais will take on the responsibility of driving profitable growth and operational excellence across a number of emerging markets, with key focus on Tanzania, Mozambique, Zambia, Uganda, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire and Cameroon.

She will be reporting to Dentsu SSA Regional CEO, Dawn Rowlands.

Commenting on her new role, Marais said: “I am incredibly excited to step-change how we drive growth across Africa, creating a unique culture of integration across the region and collaboratively building the success of Dentsu Africa.”

Added Rowlands: “With the massive growth in Dentsu Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and South Africa over the last four years, we need to refocus our energy on the emerging markets in our region. I cannot think of a better person to drive this.”

Media Director appointment in Zambian operation

Meanwhile, Dentsu Zambia has announced the appointment of Chishimba Musonda as Media Director, with her new role becoming effective from 19 September. She joined Dentsu in 2020 and has worked on client accounts such as Absa, Nestle and Mastercard.

Musonda’s responsibilities will include driving integrated design and enforcing a collaborative business approach which emphasises viewing the business as an interconnected and interdependent entity.

“Chishimba has shown phenomenal growth during her time here. I do think she will be able to add a fresh spin on how we have been operating. I am truly excited about everyone’s potential possibilities as a result of this promotion,” said Sikota Suuya-Bones, Managing Director of Dentsu Zambia.