March 11, 2025
IBM’s First African Woman Executive Launches Brainwave Africa Tech Company
Through Brainwave Africa Tech Kyerematen-Jimoh will continue to work with IBM and Microsoft, but as a business partner.
Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh is the first African woman appointed as executive director for IBM North, East, and West Africa. After a decade with the tech company, she is now the CEO and founder of Brainwave Africa Tech, a company she is working to build as the partner of choice for Africa’s digital transformation.
In an interview with Business Insider Africa, Kyerematen-Jimoh revealed that technology was not her initial career choice, and she was reluctant to explore the field. However, while she was working as head of Corporate Banking for GT Bank in Ghana, IBM came to the country to recruit someone to lead its marketing operations in West Africa. At the time, Kyerematen-Jimoh said she was craving something different from banking. “When I moved into IBM, I started in marketing as head of marketing for West Africa,” she said. The career transition led her to Nairobi, Kenya, where she fulfilled the marketing role for about two years before she became the strategy lead for Central, East, and West Africa for IBM, a position that allowed her to work closely with the U.S. team.
After working in the strategy role for about two years, Kyerematen-Jimoh made history when she moved to Ghana and became the first woman Country General Manager for IBM. “I took over from a very respectable man, Mr. Joe Mensah, who is now the CEO of Kosmos,” she said. “I had very big shoes to fill because he’s a chief.” One thing was for sure, team building was a plus in her role. “I was blessed to have a really good team,” said the tech maven who was responsible for 35 countries in Africa, including Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, and Kenya.
Nearly two years later, the Ghanaian business leader said she answered a call from Microsoft regarding a role as the strategic partnership lead with its Africa Transformation Office. While she was with the technology conglomerate, she developed the idea for her Brainwave company and launched it in January 2025. “I got to a point in my career where I needed a new direction,” she said. “The Holy Spirit was very clear—it was time for me to start my own company.” She will continue working with IBM and Microsoft as a business partner through Brainwave Africa Tech. Her company’s mission is to build strategic partnerships with both companies as it grows to become “the partner of choice for Africa’s digital transformation.” Through strategic partnerships with Nigerian-based implementation partner Blue Dive, her company helmed a successful bid for a multimillion-dollar RFP in Ghana.
The tech professional started her career in marketing, a field she said she always had an interest in. After finishing her college degree and learning French, she worked at GL Trade, a financial order management and trading systems company. A client then invited her to join the ABN AMRO team in a marketing role. “You know, when you’re a marketer, you can sell anything,” she said. “We were responsible for selling the futures and options capabilities to hedge fund managers in the UK.”
Kyerematen-Jimoh credits her mother for encouraging her to give technology a try. Marketing has been a solid foundation for her to grow in different industries. The Forbes Technology Council member advocates for women’s empowerment and philanthropy. Her experience has molded her into a trusted mentor for women in business and a resource for Ghana’s underprivileged communities. Her outreach continues as she looks forward to her newest project, the AI Explorers Club, which offers AI training every Friday and Saturday for children ages eight to 15.
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