Meet Serame Taukobong, the newly announced CEO designate at Telkom

Telkom has announced that Serame Taukobong has been appointed as the group’s chief executive designate following the departure of Sipho Maseko who has led the company for the past eight years.

Taukobong is presently the chief executive of the company’s consumer business and a group executive committee member. His appointment will come into effect from October 2021.

“Serame is a seasoned executive, with deep experience in the ICT sector in South African and the continent. His appointment ensures continuity of our value-unlock strategy,” said Telkom chairman Sello Moloko in a statement.

Taukobong, a telecommunication veteran joined Telkom in 2018 as the head of Telkom Consumer Business.

Under his leadership as the CEO of Telkom Customer Business, the mobile customer business grew three-fold to 15million and its revenue almost doubled to 20 billion Rand within a three-year period making Telkom Mobile the third-largest mobile business in South Africa, Telkom said in a statement.

In line with the board leadership transition plan, said Telkom. Maseko and Taukobong will strive to ensure that the business is stabilized and transitioned smoothly during the remaining period of Maseko’s tenure as CEO.

The board also thanked Maseko for assembling a strong team that has enabled effective succession.

“Having worked under Maseko’s leadership for three years, I know I will be taking over the solid business with a capable and committed team”, Taukobong said in a statement. The team and I are conscious of the lie ahead and we are committed to attracting and retaining the best people, winning in the marketplace and delivering values for shareholders, ” he said.

Extensive Experiences and academics

Serame Taukobong has a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of Cape Town in 1992 and a Global Advancement Programme Degree from Gordon Institute of Business Science in 2011.

In 2011, Taukobong was part of the Gordon Institute of Business Science’s global advancement program. During his time at MTN, he won numerous awards, including being named CEO of the year while in Ghana in 2014.

After then, he joined Telkom in 2018 and he has extensive experience in telecommunications, having spent 10 years at MTN where he served as the Chief Operating Officer and he later became the CEO of the mobile business operator in Ghana.