Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, has appointed Olufunmilayo Okubena as country manager for its operations in Ghana.

Okubena is an ICT industry expert, who has held several senior positions at various multinational companies before joining Infobip Ghana. He graduated from Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria in 2003, with a bachelor’s degree in Electrical and Electronic Engineering.

After starting his working career in sales at a healthcare company, Okubena soon transitioned into ICT, in the field of technical and business-to-business (B2B) sales and account management. He worked for companies such as Dimension Data, Oracle and IBM.

He joined systems integrator Inlaks Ghana in 2018 as country manager, before deciding that the next step in realising his career aspirations would be to move to a global company. He was appointed as country manager of Infobip Ghana in September this year.

Okubena brings a wealth of skills and expertise, including sales in fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), Enterprise / corporate sales and senior management experience. Okubena oversees both the Sales and operational areas of Infobip’s Ghana business and is responsible for the day-to-day running of the company in his new position.

Market leader

“My goal is to position Infobip as a market leader in digital communication engagement solutions within Ghana and the sub-region.
There is a lot of room to grow, improve and increase market share, which is a task I’m extremely excited about” he says.

“We can leverage the existing partner system to increase our market reach. In addition, we need to leverage our existing customer base to upsell and cross-sell solutions, while also bringing onboard new customers.”

Over the next six months, Okubena plans to focus on increasing brand awareness and position Infobip Ghana as a full-service global communications platform that offers a range of cloud solutions, such as Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS).

“In the short term, I want to focus on increasing the mindshare among customers, specifically targeting the top 20 customers in every industry vertical within the Ghana ecosystem,” Okubena explains.

Ramping up revenue

At the same time, he also has ambitious targets to ramp up Infobip Ghana’s revenue and says that there has already been an increased interest from some enterprises.

Okubena notes that he wants to specifically focus on organisations within the banking, finance and insurance industry, which form a key part of the Ghanaian economy, as well as telecoms providers and associated players in that sector.

“We also hope to see some opportunities in the government space. With elections just a few months away, the government will need to push massive volumes of SMS and voice communication,” he says.

In terms of regional expansion, Okubena says that a range of English-speaking countries within the West African sub-region will be a focus for Infobip Ghana, where the company plans to work through a partner network to onboard new customers.