TECHNOLOGYFILLING THE
TECHNOLOGYFILLING THE WORLD WITH EMOTIONS THROUGH THEPOWER OF CREATIVITY AND TECHNOLOGYInnovations such as Sony World and the Sony Innovation Fund are driving the company’s strategy in Africa,says Managing Director, Sony Middle East and Africa (MEA), Jobin Joejoe. Cutting-edge audio products andcollaboration with content creators are helping Sony connect with customers like never before.How long have you personally been with Sony?My journey with Sony started back in 2007. In the last 18 years I have come up theranks within the company. I started off as country manager for UAE. I was based inDubai then I moved to Egypt as Chief Representative of Egypt where I was in Cairo forthree years. I came back and took over as head of sales for GCC Levant Region, thenin 2018 I was promoted as sales director for the Middle East. In 2022 I took over asDeputy Managing Director for Sony Middle East and Africa and in April 2024, I tookover the current position as the Managing Director of Sony Middle East and Africa.Have you been located in Dubai most of the time or have you moved around?For 15 years I have been based in Dubai with three years in Cairo but I keep travelling.I would say that for more than half the month I am travelling across countries in theMiddle East and Africa as well as the Central Asia region.Jobin Joejoe, Sony MEAManaging Director.How exactly does the hub-and-spoke model work?Primarily we have our regional headquarters operating in Dubai. Out of this we caterto the entire region of the Middle East, Africa as well as the Central Asia region. Wecover almost 70 countries from Dubai and our in-house logistics and warehousing10
TECHNOLOGYof increasing customer lifetime value by providing innovative products to meetcustomer needs.Sony MEA’s location at the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai allows it to seamlesslyservice one of the the company’s largest supply-chain operations globally.How extensive is Sony’s African footprint?To be very frank it’s a significant presence – most of Africa is covered in some wayor other. We have a presence in most African countries but in terms of directto-retailoperations or distributor operations, we are still present in a significantnumber of countries. There are several countries that are big for us: South Africa,Kenya, Nigeria, Morocco, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Tanzania, Mauritius and Seychelles.In a few countries, it is a case of trading from Dubai. Most of the big countries areall covered either through direct-to-retail or through distributors and the smallercountries are catered to from Dubai.operations is based at the Jebel Ali Free Zone in Dubai, which is one of the largestsupply-chain operations that Sony has globally. We take care of a huge territory.Depending on the dynamics of how each market behaves, we decide on our go-tostrategy for each market. There are certain markets where we operate directly withretailers, there are others we operate through distributors. For example, a direct toretail operation would be a country like Kuwait. A distributor operation would bemarkets like UAE or Qatar where we have distributors managing the business for us.And then we have hybrid markets like South Africa where we do a certain portionof our business directly with retailers and a certain portion of our business throughdistributors. This is further complemented by our direct-to-customer strategy (theD2C strategy) which is primarily our e-commerce operations. This is where we haveSony World established in certain markets like UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Bahrain,which is complemented by offline store showrooms. It’s a mix. Depending on thedynamics of the market, we decide how to approach each of the markets.Is Sony World a retail outlet?Yes, Sony World is a showroom as well as an e-commerceplatform. Together with the online platform, we have storesoperating in the same structure as Sony showrooms.How many Sony Worlds do you have in Africa?Sony World’s e-commerce strategy is a recent initiative,launched just last year. The first in Africa was opened in Morocco in February 2025and our next target market is South Africa. Over the past year, we’ve successfullyexpanded our presence in the UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. Our currentfocus is on launching in South Africa.Those are Sony-owned operations?Completely, together with the e-commerce platform. We have our partners in eachof the respective countries that takes care of the backend in terms of stock deliveryor in terms of the payment management but in terms of how the website is run, it ismanaged by us centrally from Dubai.How do you see your role as MD of Sony MEA?When I took over as the deputy Managing Director of Sony MEA two years ago,I was overseeing key operations. I expanded the business across the Middle Eastand Africa and Central Asia regions as well as stabilised our sales and marketingplatforms towards achieving the three Rs, which is Reality, Realtime and Remote.In Africa ourprimary focusis audio andcontent creationToday as Managing Director I continue to oversee the overall operations ofthe business and our strategy remains the same – to accomplish our final goalAnd am I correct to say that the Sony World is something you’re looking at as ameans of expanding further or going deeper into markets?Yes. The Sony World concept was conceptualised from the need to understand ourcustomers better; where we can actually communicate with our customers directlyto understand what their requirements are. How can we fulfil their requirementsby bringing in innovative products? The entire gambit of the creation of SonyWorld was to have a direct contact with customers. With the data of customers, wecan see the kind of uses that they have of our products. That helps us in terms ofrecommending products and it helps us create more value for customers. The entireconcept of Sony World is to have a direct communication with our end customers.What are your key priorities?Considering the size of the region, our key priority has always been enhancingour operational efficiency and stabilising our supply chain. This is critical for usin terms of ensuring that our customers get the right products atthe right time. Most of these markets are very dynamic and keepchanging. All of our strategies are primarily about rewardingbrand loyalty through unique product offerings at a competitiveprice and bringing the latest products into the region at the sametime as the global launch. This speaks to stabilising our supplychain operations.What are your long-term goals for Sony in the region?In terms of a broader vision, our goal is to continue pioneering new frontiers asa creative entertainment company where we closely work with creators to bringinnovative experiences to our audiences, whether this is through immersivegaming, high-quality audio-visual experiences or breakthrough innovations indigital storytelling. Something we have been focusing on is to work with creatorsin various fields to understand their requirements for growing the entertainmentbusiness across Africa.What is a creator in terms of what you’re saying? Is that someone sitting alone athis or her computer or is that a big company like DStv?When we say creators it’s a mix of both, but today the focus is more on individualswho are specialising in their particular field. It could be in the field of gamingwhere we have gamers creating or publishers who are publishing games. It couldbe content creators who could be working out of a home or an office; it’s a broadspectrum. It covers entertainment or it could be people in the music industry space.We look at bringing in products that enhance what we are doing and portray theirwork to audiences in a much better way.PHOTO: WZM Pictures on Pexels11
