Africa Awards

PRIYA THAKOOR

Group SVP Digital & Product, Airtel Africa

Priya Thakoor is an expert in digital business strategy and development, she has led and grown divisions in multinational Telecommunications, Banking, and Retail sectors, including Vodafone and Barclays markets in Africa. Her extensive experience has seen her managing digital and mobile businesses with more than 150 million unique customers and an impressive turnover of over $2 billion. Her strategic leadership has facilitated the development of diverse digital, design, big data, and engineering teams of over 300 professionals. In her current capacity, she coaches Women in Tech, a and further hosts mentorships circles for women in 14 markets in Africa. Leading her previous team at Vodacom, part of Vodafone group, she was proud of having 50% of her executive committee made up of Women and 50% of her team structure of 75 represented of women across Digital Product Management, Digital Analytics and Product Design and actively participated as a judge and coach at Hackathons

Beyond her role in established organizations, Priya is a seasoned entrepreneur and start-up founder. She has created and scaled several innovative companies in the internet (property classifieds), SaaS (print promotional design), and fintech (alternative credit scoring & mortgage marketplace) sectors, both in South Africa and the USA. Her knack for identifying market opportunities and providing solutions to customer problems has made her a respected figure in the tech entrepreneurial scene. Her academic journey is equally impressive. A scholarship led her to Mercer University in the USA, where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Engineering with a specialisation in Computer Engineering.

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