Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh, the first African woman to serve as executive director for IBM North, East, and West Africa, has launched her own tech company called Brainwave Africa Tech, which seeks to be the partner of choice for Africa’s digital transformation.
In an interview with Business Insider Africa, she 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 which time, Angela said she was craving something different from banking so she took the opportunity and moved to IBM as head of marketing for West Africa.
According to her, that 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, Angela made history when she moved to Ghana and became the first woman Country General Manager for IBM overseeing 35 African countries including Nigeria, Kenya and Morocco.
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 Microsoft, 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.”
According to Angela, she will continue working with IBM and Microsoft as a business partner through Brainwave Africa Tech, adding that the mission of her company is to build strategic partnerships with both companies as it grows to become “the partner of choice for Africa’s digital transformation.”
Meanwhile, through strategic partnerships with Nigerian-based implementation partner Blue Dive, her company has already helmed a successful bid for a multimillion-dollar RFP in Ghana.
She is also working on a new project called the AI Explorers Club, which offers AI training every Friday and Saturday for children ages eight to 15.
