Oracle has appointed Andrew Sordam as Vice President for sub-Saharan Africa with immediate effect. Andrew Sordam takes over from Cherian Varghese who has been named as the Regional Managing Director and Vice President for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and South Asian Growing Economies at Oracle, based out of Singapore.

Sordam takes on his new role after over 20 years at Oracle in various leadership roles, most recently that of Vice President for Oracle’s Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) business across EMEA. Sordam brings with him a keen understanding of what is required by both enterprise and public sector customers to transform their businesses in the digital era and how to drive Oracle’s emerging technology solutions to the next level in the region.

“Oracle is serious about Africa and having a vice president, based on the continent, heading African operations demonstrates our continued commitment to the continent, partners and our customers,” says Abdul Rahman Al Thehaiban, Oracle senior vice-president for technology Middle East and Africa (MEA).

“Oracle has been present in Africa for the last thirty years and has been investing into the continent aggressively for the last ten years thereof. I am eager to be a part of the Oracle Africa team, watching them transform the face of business on the continent, as they drive digital transformation success for our customers across the region,” says Andrew Sordam, Vice President for sub-Saharan Africa at Oracle.

“We believe that Andrew will enable us to bolster our African footprint; helping lead the Oracle business and our continental focus forward, further developing critical relationships and partnerships across the Oracle eco-system,” says Corine Mbiaketcha Nana, Managing Director Kenya Hub covering East, Central and West Africa at Oracle.

Oracle operates 13 dedicated offices across Africa; these include two each in Nigeria, Egypt and South Africa and single offices in Algeria, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Kenya, Morocco, Mauritius and Senegal.

The company continues to invest in the human capital of the countries it does business in to address the growing ICT skills gap. Launched in 2014, the Oracle Graduate Leadership Programme helps African youth develop specialised IT skills required to succeed in the fourth industrial revolution.

“Digitalisation is permeating every industry and geography with cloud becoming an essential component of business transformation. Organisations across the continent are embarking on innovative digital transformation initiatives and I’m excited that these projects are driving the continent forward in ways we can only imagine,” says Sordam.