Jacques' innovative approach to digital transformation will drive technological growth at the African telecommunications behemoth.
Airtel Africa, a multinational company that provides telecommunications and mobile money services in 14 countries in Africa, has appointed Jacques Barkhuizen as its new group CIO, effective 1 October 2023.
With an illustrious career spanning 28 years in IT, Jacques brings a wealth of experience and expertise to Airtel Africa. His professional journey has traversed diverse sectors including retail, financial services, consulting, and telecommunications. Prior to joining the Airtel team, Jacques served as the chief information officer at Vodacom South Africa and, before that, held the role of CIO for digital and virtual channels at Absa.
Under Jacques’ stewardship, Absa experienced a remarkable leap forward across all digital channels. One of the latest milestones was the pioneering Chatbanking on WhatsApp, which at the time, was a world-first innovation.
Jacques has a diploma in computer data processing from Port Elizabeth Technikon. He is also a (board) non-executive director at Smartcash PSB, a leading payment service bank headquartered in Nigeria.
