IBM announced on Wednesday, December 15, the appointment of Julia Carvalho as general manager of IBM Growth Markets, Africa.
Julia Carvalho, IBM said, will be responsible for IBM”s business operations, partner ecosystem development and customer satisfaction in several regions of Africa. “With a focus on the partner ecosystem in Africa, Ms. Carvalho will lead efforts to strengthen IBM’s business on the continent with a higher level of technical expertise and industry experience to drive growth for our company, our clients and our partners on the continent,” the IT giant says.
Júlia Carvalho, it is reported, brings to the position a deep knowledge of the African continent with more than 20 years of local and regional experience in the IT, oil and gas and energy sectors. Saad Toma, general manager of IBM Middle East and Africa said, “Julia’s deep knowledge of technology and the African continent will bring unique value as we help our clients accelerate their digital transformations in the era of hybrid cloud, Data and AI. As a senior leader, her focus on IBM’s increased investment in our partner ecosystem will also enable our partners to play a larger role in supporting our clients’ programs.”
For her part, Julia Carvalho said, “Africa is a continent of immense opportunity and rapid transformation. I am grateful for the opportunity to work with customers and our ecosystem partners to build technology that is tailored to Africa’s unique needs”.
Over 20 years of experience
Júlia Carvalho has 20 years of management experience at the international and regional levels, in Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Prior to her appointment, she was, since November 2018, General Manager of IBM (International Business Machines Corporation) in Angola, Mozambique, Cape Verde, and São Tomé and Príncipe. Responsible for IBM’s activities in these countries, she focused on the development of advanced technologies in Artificial Intelligence, Cloud, Blockchain, Big Data and Data Analytics,. She was also responsible for ensuring that these technologies meet the current and future needs of institutions and companies in the main economic industries of these countries. Júlia Carvalho, says IBM, thus helped expand IBM’s presence and led clients’ digital transformation journeys around the company’s key strategic imperatives of hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence (AI).
Career in the oil industry.
Júlia Carvalho started working in Angola in 2006, having worked for a large number of national and international companies, mainly in the oil industry, where she held several strategic and management positions.
Prior to joining IBM, Júlia Carvalho worked for Halliburton in the software and services department. There she held the position of Sales Manager for South West Africa, Landmark Software and Services for Southern Africa: Angola, Congo, Democratic Republic of Congo, Namibia and South Africa. Previously, she held the same position, but was responsible for Angola only.
Professor and researcher
Júlia Carvalho has also been a professor and researcher at the University of Lisbon, specifically at the Center for Petroleum Reservoir Modeling. She has also been a consultant to Sonangol P&P and Sonagas. In addition, Júlia Carvalho and headed the Natural Resources Business Unit at Sinfic in Angola.
Julia Carvalho holds a PhD in Engineering from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the University of Lisbon, Portugal and a degree in Mining Engineering from the same university. She has also completed several executive programs in the United States and at the Católica Lisbon School of Business & Economics, Portugal. She is also a member of the Angolan board of the Petroleum Engineering Company (SPE) and received the “Africa Service Award of SPE” in 2018.
