About this episode

Serame Taukobong shares his unconventional journey from chemist to CEO of Telkom, detailing the challenges and successes he faced along the way.

“I was kicked out of a lab. They thought I’d blow it up. And I ended up in marketing.” Serame Taukobong trained as a chemist. His first employer had other ideas. What followed was Unilever, SAB, M-Net, fifteen years at MTN across Africa and then Telkom, a part state-owned telecoms relic haemorrhaging landline revenue and fighting for relevance. On day four as CEO he was in court. On day twenty-five a presidential proclamation wiped R3 billion off the share price before he’d received his first pay cheque. Today Telkom’s mobile business is the third largest in South Africa and one of the few state-linked companies making money. It turns out the man they threw out of the lab was exactly what the building needed. This series is sponsored by Discovery Bank. Follow all the episodes here. Editions drop on Tuesdays at 07:00.

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