Takreem El Tohamy, IBMs General Manager for the Middle East and Africa, has been appointed by the US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to join the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa.
Takreem El Tohamy is now among a group of 23 private sector leaders selected to advise the U.S. President on ways to strengthen commercial engagement between the United States and Africa.
In a statement released, “part of El Tohamy responsibility would be to provide information, analysis, and recommendations on U.S.-Africa trade and investment priorities, including U.S. and Africa job creation. As well as developing and strengthening commercial partnerships to increase U.S. public and private sector financing in Africa; analyzing the effect of policies in the United States and Africa on American trade and investment interests in Africa”.
However, the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) was created in 2014, as part of an Executive Order signed by President Barack Obama, to promote broad-based economic growth in the United States and Africa.
With more than 30 years of experience at IBM, Takreem has led the expansion of the company’s capabilities and facilities across Africa. IBM now has a direct presence in 24 African countries.
“I am honored to represent IBM on the President’s Advisory Council, El Tohamy said, IBM has long recognized Africa’s potential, and we’ve been partnering with local organizations on the continent for almost a century.”
He said, in recent years, in particular, we’ve seen how local governments and agencies have been able to leapfrog in technology adoption by embracing the latest innovations such as cognitive systems, cloud computing, data analytics and mobile technology.”
“We’ve been working aggressively with clients and partners to develop skills, build out infrastructure and boost local scientific research to develop unique solutions to Africa’s unique challenges. These local investments have enabled us to create win-win scenarios for both U.S. businesses and local clients.
IBM also has been investing heavily in developing local skills and talent. A recent example is the Africa Skills Initiative: through a $60 million investment, IBM is supporting African governments and academic institutions to narrow the skills gap between tertiary institutions of learning and marketplace requirements.
Through long-standing commercial partnerships as well as new ventures, IBM is assisting African businesses in the major industries including telecommunications, banking, healthcare and government with their digital transformation, and their shift to the cloud in the cognitive era.
For example, IBM is helping deliver electricity in Kenya, accelerate the adoption of mobile banking in West and East Africa, transform the healthcare and insurance sectors in South Africa by implementing the latest cognitive technologies and boost youth-government engagement in Uganda. IBM is also providing cloud computing expertise to independent software vendors (ISVs) in Morocco and Egypt to help drive innovation, to name a few recent engagements.
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