RIM Turkey boss to drive BlackBerry

in SA

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has appointed its former Turkish country head, Alexandra Zagury, as MD for South Africa and Southern Africa.

Research In Motion (RIM) today announced the appointment of Alexandra Zagury as Managing Director for South Africa and Southern Africa. 

Based in Johannesburg, Zagury will oversee all of RIM's operations, sales and marketing efforts for the region.

Zagury told Gadget this morning that South Africa was one of RIM's focus territories, thanks to the success of BlackBerry in this market.

In a press statement, she added: "I am excited to be taking on the role of Managing Director for the Southern African region, one of RIM’s most important growth markets. We are proud of the company’s success in this region, particularly in South Africa where BlackBerry is the leading smartphone brand, and I believe there is still tremendous opportunity for growth. Our goal is to maintain customer loyalty and expand RIM's leading position in South Africa by being even more customer-focused and by working closely with our carrier and developer partners across the region.”

She told Gadget: "RIM only appoints regonial heads in territories on which it places specific emphasis and focus. South Africa is one of its most successful territories."

Robert Bose, Regional Managing Director for Africa and the Middle East at RIM said: “Alexandra brings a wealth of commercial, strategic and leadership experience to this role, and she will be instrumental in driving the next stage of our business growth in Southern Africa.”

World Wide Worx's Mobility 2012 study, released yesterday, showed that BlackBerry market share among cellphone users aged 16 and over, living in cities and towns, ahd grown from 4% to 18% in the past 18 months.

Alexandra Zagury has been with RIM for more than four years and was RIM's first Managing Director appointed in Turkey. Prior to moving to Istanbul, Zagury was based in the UK, where she was responsible for regional strategic planning and business operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. 

Before joining RIM in April 2008, Zagury was at Yahoo! Europe, where she headed the UK and Pan-Euro Business Operations and Intelligence teams. Her earlier experience spans over the property, leisure, financial services and media industries in the US, Tunisia, Argentina, Korea and Poland. 

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