Job Title: chief people officer
Company: Yum! Brands, KFC Africa
Akhona Qengqe joined Yum! Brands, KFC Africa in 2015 as director, franchise development for Africa. In 2017, she took on the role of director, transformation and diversity and inclusion, before becoming the chief people and transformation officer, Africa in 2020.
She started her career as an assistant brand manager, before moving to Shell SA Marketing where she held a number of positions, including business analyst, retail territory manager, real estate property manager, fuels marketing implementation manager and head of convenience retail.
Akhona has also held the role of retail national convenience operations manager at Engen.
She holds a BCom, majoring in economics, politics and philosophy, from the University of Cape Town and a certificate in marketing management from Unisa.
For her role as the chief people and transformation officer, Africa at Yum! Brands, KFC Africa, Akhona has been nominated for the 2021 CHRO Awards.
Work
2020 – Present: Chief People and Transformation Officer – Africa, Yum! Brands, KFC Africa
2017 – 2020: Director, Transformation and Diversity and Inclusion – Africa, Yum! Brands, KFC Africa
2015 – 2017: Director, Franchise Development – Africa, Yum! Brands, KFC Africa
2013 – 2015: Head of Convenience Retail – South Africa, Shell (SA) Downstream Marketing
2011 – 2013: National Convenience Operations Manager – Retail, Engen Petroleum
2009 – 2011: Fuels Marketing Implementation Manager – South Africa, Shell (SA) Downstream Marketing
2008 – 2009: Property Manager – Real Estate, Shell SA Marketing
2006 – 2007: Territory Manager – Retail (Graduate programme), Shell SA Marketing
2006 – 2006: Business Analyst (Graduate programme), Shell SA Marketing
2002 – 2003: Assistant Brand Manager (internship), Procter & Gamble SA
Education
2005: BCom, University of Cape Town
2004: Certificate in Marketing Management, Unisa
About Yum! Brands, KFC Africa
Yum! Brands has over 50,000 restaurants in more than 150 countries and territories primarily operating the company’s restaurant brands – KFC, Pizza Hut and Taco Bell – global leaders of the chicken, pizza and Mexican-style food categories. Yum! Brands was named to the Dow Jones Sustainability North America Index and in 2020, the company ranked among the top 100 Best Corporate Citizens by 3BL Media.
