Juliet Ehimuan steps down as Google West Africa director

Juliet Ehimuan, the first Google West Africa Director, has left the company after 12 years and contributing to the company’s regional growth.

Ehimuan in a statement said she will be taking on a broader role within the regional tech landscape. In doing so, she plans to collaborate with corporate executives, global investors, African governments, and startup founders to help them drive growth, excellence, and digital transformation within the continent’s ecosystem and broader business landscape.

She began her journey at Google, first as the country director for Nigeria and later as the director for West Africa. Some of her achievements at the helm of affairs at Google include the Get Nigeria Businesses Online project, strategic partnerships, and deployment and localisation of key products like Google Maps, Streetview, and YouTube.ng.

Ehimuan also championed the inaugural Google for Africa event in Lagos in 2012, where Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced the commitment to train 10 million African in digital skills, 100,000 developers in-depth web and mobile development skills, and a Google for Startups accelerator for Africa to support tech entrepreneurs on the continent.

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“These initiatives underline Ehimuan’s dedication to nurturing the next generation of technology leaders in Africa,” the statement read.

Ehimuan’s tenure also saw the execution of high-priority access projects such as the expansion of the Google Station program in Nigeria and the landing of Google’s Equiano fibre cable in Lagos. These initiatives are expected to play a significant role in making the internet more accessible and affordable for millions of people in Nigeria and beyond.

Over the last 12 years, the continent has become increasingly important to Google’s global strategy and a destination for significant investment. Indeed, Google has committed increasing sums to growing Africa’s tech ecosystem – including $50 million for growth-stage start-ups through the Africa Investment Fund in early 2020 and $1 billion toward Africa’s digital transformation in 2021.

“Ehimuan joined Google with a strong background in strategy and technology and her contributions to ICT policy and strategy have been critical. She has been a key player in the development of policies that have fostered investment and infrastructure growth in the Nigerian tech ecosystem. Her leadership in high-profile committees like the National Economic Summit Group (NESG) and the Presidential Committee that created the national broadband plan in 2019 has been instrumental in shaping the ICT strategy of the region.

“As Ehimuan turns the page to the next chapter of her career, she is set to leverage her wealth of experience and network to drive digital transformation across the continent in a broader role. Ehimuan’s passion for leadership development and personal excellence coaching will continue to have a global impact through her 30 Days of Excellence program. Based on her book ’30 Days of Excellence’ published in 2020, this program, which rolled out within Google over the last 18 months, is set to continue its global expansion,” the statement noted.