The African Marketing Confederation (AMC) has constituted its President’s Council. In the changes announced this week, David Balikuddembe, the current President of the Uganda Marketers Society (UMS) has been appointed the new Secretary General.
This follows, the stepping down of long-serving Secretary General and a founder member of the AMC, Gillian Rusike.
According to a statement by AMC, Mr. Rusike has relinquished his position to pursue other ventures, including studying for his doctorate. He however continues to be the CEO of the Marketers Association of Zimbabwe (MAZ), which is a member of the African Marketing Confederation.
“We are extremely grateful to Gillian for his amazing contribution to the African Marketing Confederation, which he helped found in 2011 with the aim of unifying Africa’s national marketing associations to exchange expertise and promote the marketing profession as a whole,” AMC President, Helen McIntee, said in a statement.
Speaking of David Balikuddembe’s appointment, McIntee said, “David has a passion for Africa and marketing. As President of the UMS – a role he relinquishes when his two-year term expires shortly – he showed that he is innovative and supremely organised. He will be a great asset to the AMC going forward”.
In other changes made to the AMC President’s Council, David Balikuddembe also becomes the Vice President, East Africa.
Kwabena Agyekum of the Chartered Institute of Marketing of Ghana becomes the Vice President, West Africa while Nigel Tattersall (Director, AMC) and Helen McIntee (Director, AMC) are Vice Presidents for Southern Africa and North Africa respectively.
Irene Gregory of the Institute of Marketing Management, South Africa becomes the Deputy Vice President, Southern Africa.
“We are looking forward to an exciting 2024 for the AMC,” says McIntee.
“We already have 11 national marketing bodies as members, and anticipate at least two more countries joining this year. We are also working on collaborations with leading marketing organisations in other regions of the world. “Plus, we have our 3rd Annual African Marketing Confederation Conference taking place in Kenya. Our reconstituted President’s Council will be a key part of driving these initiatives forward,” she added.
Who is David Balikuddembe?
Balikuddembe is a career market researcher and co-founder of CEBS (Cutting-Edge Business Support) a business that provides market research and tech solutions in the marketing space.
At UMS, David has had several accomplishments. He has worked towards bringing together various bodies to work together by signing partnerships with the PR Association of Uganda (PRAU) and the Uganda Advertising Association (UAA). One of the partnerships culminated in the glamorous Silverback Awards held jointly by UMS/UAA.
Other notable accomplishments are
- Hosting of the 2nd Annual African Marketing Confederation Conference that was attended by over 500 delegates from across the world and attracted speakers from 14 countries.
- In 2022, David led the UMS team to organise the Annual Marketers Fireplace. The highlight of the event was the keynote speaker, the renowned marketing author, TED speaker and founder of the SOSTAC® model – PR Smith. The event also featured globally renowned marketing author, co-founder of Smart Insights, who is sometimes referred to as the grandfather of digital marketing – Dr. Dave Chaffey.
- He has also seen UMS individual and corporate membership more than double.
- He also oversaw the signing of an MOU with the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives.
- Under his leadership, UMS has also seen several internship placements and recommended members for permanent jobs.