27 Facts About Andile Ngcaba

Andile Abner Ngcaba is a South African businessman who has devoted most of his life and career to the field of technology, in particular communications.

Andile Ngcaba is chairman, founder and majority shareholder of the investment group Convergence Partners and is the former Executive Chairman of Dimension Data Middle East and Africa, a subsidiary of the Dimension Data plc Group, which was recently acquired by Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation 1.

Andile Ngcaba was previously an activist aligned with the African National Congress during the struggle against apartheid, and thereafter the Director General of Communications in the first democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994.

Andile Ngcaba left Government in 2003 to pursue a career in the private sector.

Andile Ngcaba's father spent 38 years working for the Post Office, 20 years of which he was a Postmaster.

When he completed high school, Andile Ngcaba enrolled at a technical college in Umtata before being hired as a bench technician by Philips in Johannesburg.

Andile Ngcaba transited through Mozambique before joining ANC camps in Angola, where he underwent formal military training.

Andile Ngcaba was trained in military communications technology before going to the then Soviet Union, where he received further specialised training.

Andile Ngcaba spent most of the 1980s moving between Europe, the Soviet Union and parts of Africa, with the bulk of his time being spent in Angola.

In 1990, after more than a decade of struggle, Andile Ngcaba was among the first exiles to return to South Africa.

Andile Ngcaba helped the ANC establish its Johannesburg headquarters and was appointed as the organisation's head of IT.

Andile Ngcaba was responsible for the establishment of the Centre for Development of Information and Telecommunications Policy which was instrumental in:.

On his return to South Africa after exile, Andile Ngcaba continued his contribution to the ICT sector by participating in various initiatives that positively shaped the ICT sector both in South Africa and in the region.

At the Department of Communications, Andile Ngcaba was responsible for policy formulation that restructured the ICT sector and presided over various groundbreaking initiatives designed to reorganise and overhaul the telecommunications sector, broadcasting industry, postal services and e-commerce in accordance with the imperatives of the new South African society.

Andile Ngcaba participated in the Digital Opportunity Task Force, a G8 ICT global initiative.

Andile Ngcaba resigned from his role as Director General in 2003 to pursue a career in the private sector.

Andile Ngcaba invested in a further 2 companies before the formation of Convergence Partners in early 2006 as his exclusive investment vehicle.

Andile Ngcaba currently serves on a number of boards of investee companies and is a Trustee of the Convergence Partners Foundation Trust, a not-for-profit vehicle to improve the education of previously disadvantaged persons using technology and to develop ICT skills that are in short supply in the continent.

Andile Ngcaba has served on the Council of the University of South Africa and was an advisor to the Digital Inclusion Programme at Harvard University Law School.

Andile Ngcaba was a member of the Telecom Board of the ITU, served on the Board of InfoDev, a partnership of international developmental agencies, which was in turn co-ordinated and served by an expert Secretariat housed at the World Bank.

Andile Ngcaba was the Honorary Advisor representing Africa for The Prince of Wales International Business Leaders Forum, advising on strategy and engagement throughout Africa.

Andile Ngcaba has written and published many papers, received various international awards, participated globally on ICT decision-making forums and has influenced the formation of various African forums and organisations responsible for shaping the ICT sector.

Andile Ngcaba has been a leading proponent of the implementation of various measures designed to curb the digital divide and his efforts have won him praise including a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2003.

Andile Ngcaba was conferred the Black Information Technology Achievers award and the ICT Leadership Award.

Andile Ngcaba was named as TechCentral's newsmaker of 2011 for his significant impact on South Africa's technology sector.

Andile Ngcaba grew up in a family consisting of four brothers and a sister, most of whom have ended up in the ICT industry, in Duncan Village, East London.

Andile Ngcaba's family is originally from Pondoland in the Eastern Cape.