Executive Search Across Africa: Meet Our New Partner, JobnetAfrica

Inez, can you tell us a little bit about yourself?

My name is Inez Willeboordse and I am originally from the Netherlands. I have always loved travelling, exploring new cultures, working with people, meeting new people and networking.
I grew up in a very rural part of the Netherlands, but I started travelling from an early age. That curiosity about the world has always been part of who I am. In 2008, I embarked on a job opportunity in Johannesburg, South Africa, and that is where I fell in love with Africa.
Since then, Africa has played a very important role in both my personal and professional life. Living and working across different countries on the continent has shaped the way I see people, business, culture and opportunity.

Do you have other hobbies or things you enjoy doing with your family/friends that you would like to share?

Absolutely. Travelling is probably my biggest passion. I love exploring new places, being curious, meeting new people and learning new things.
I also adore animals, so anything connected to wildlife, safaris and nature is very close to my heart. That also includes our dog, and I grew up with horses, so animals have always been a big part of my life.
Another thing I really enjoy is hiking and being outdoors. I recently climbed a mountain in Kyrgyzstan with a group of friends, which was an incredible experience. It was one of those moments that makes you feel humble and reminds you that life is pretty cool and exciting - even if it can also be quite scary at times.

So, in general, I love being outdoors and active. Camping is another big favourite of mine.

What is your favorite thing about the recruitment and executive search industry?

Personally, I really enjoy connecting people. Because we work on many cross-border placements, there is often an adventurous side to what we do. Moving to a new country, building a life there, adapting to a different environment and starting a new role is a big and exciting step for candidates.

I love being part of that journey: helping people take the leap into new opportunities that can change both their career and their life. That international and cross-border element makes the work especially exciting for me.

Besides that, I also simply love “the hunt” - whether that is finding new clients, developing new assignments with existing clients, or searching for the right candidates. Luckily, the candidate side of that hunt is now something my team takes very good care of.

Could you share with us a little bit about your beginnings in this industry?

My beginnings in the recruitment industry were very much from scratch. I had no formal experience in recruitment and had not studied anything related to the industry. I had been headhunted a couple of times in my previous career while I was still in the Netherlands, but that was really my only exposure to recruitment at the time.
For me, starting in this industry was one big adventure. I simply loved connecting people, and while living and working across Africa, I started seeing opportunities and a clear need in the market. I think I was naturally quite good at linking people and opportunities, but I had no clue about things like fee structures, exclusivity agreements or the more technical side of recruitment.
So I was very much a beginner. It also took me some time to move into executive-level search and to understand that part of the industry. But the business really started from a genuine interest in connecting people, and it grew from there.

That was 16 years ago now - and at the beginning, I honestly had no idea where it would lead.

What are the biggest learnings from your career?

For me, this question is mainly about my career in executive search and building a business around it. One of my biggest learnings is that if you want something to grow, you need to invest heavily - either with money, or with a lot of time and dedication. It does not happen by itself.
For me, that meant being extremely dedicated to networking, building relationships and also building a strong team. I have learned that you need to stay focused on your goal and keep going, even when it is difficult. Building a business can be painful at times, but it is also a lot of fun — and I think that is the only way to really progress.

Another big learning comes from working across Africa. Africa is massive: 54 different countries, each with its own dynamics, opportunities, challenges, political situations, elections, economic priorities and cultural nuances. Navigating all of that is a joy, but it can also be quite complicated.

So I would say my biggest learnings are to stay flexible, work hard, keep your goal in mind and make sure you still have fun along the way.

What led you to found your company?

This is probably one of the nicest questions for me to answer, because it is a very personal story.
I had been working in South Africa and Malawi for a couple of years, and my partner and I decided that we wanted to create a location-independent life. The only challenge was that we still needed to work - and we did not yet know who was going to pay for this lifestyle.
We started thinking about what kind of work would allow both of us to travel, live in different places and deal with practical things like visas and changing locations. We realised we needed a remote or online business. Nowadays that sounds very normal, but at the time it was not. Skype barely worked in Malawi, so setting up a digital business was quite an adventure.
At first, we did not know what kind of business to start. We both had different backgrounds, and eventually we came up with the idea of recruitment. That is how JobnetAfrica was born.
It did not start because of a long history in HR, talent acquisition or even a specific passion for recruitment — we did not really know the industry yet. It started from a passion for creating the life we wanted to live.

What is your company’s USP for clients and candidates?

For me, our USP is very clear, although it took me some time to define it properly. JobnetAfrica is a boutique executive search agency. That means we are large enough to manage several assignments at the same time and to offer a very consistent service through a strong recruitment and delivery team, led by our Head of Delivery.
At the same time, we are small enough to remain very personal. Our company has Dutch roots, and although not everyone in the team is Dutch, our culture is very much about being upfront, direct and doing what we say we will do. We are proud of that. We will also tell a client honestly if we do not think something is feasible.
The boutique nature of our business is one important part of our USP. The other part is that we are true Africa specialists within our sectors. Globally, there are only a few companies that focus so specifically on this niche. We operate internationally in the sectors we know best: renewable energy, logistics, agriculture, supply chain and construction.

We have been working in this niche for 16 years, and we are very well known in it. Our network is strong, and we understand what our clients are looking for. That is also because many people in our team either live in Africa or have lived in Africa. My own experience is not only in South Africa, but also in Malawi, and colleagues have lived and worked in countries such as Senegal and The Gambia.

So I would say our USP is the combination of deep Africa knowledge, sector specialisation and a boutique, personal way of working.

What is a typical profile that you recruit?

We work across a few core sectors: agriculture and the agri-food value chain, renewable energy, construction and logistics. Within those sectors, we mainly focus on senior leadership and management profiles.
This can include C-level roles such as CEO, COO, CFO or CMO, but also director and senior management positions. The exact title often depends on the size and structure of the company.
Typically, we work on roles around C-suite level, or one or two levels below the C-suite. That is where we see most of our assignments.

Who is a typical client for you?

A typical client for us is a mid-sized to larger company that is either scaling up or already operating at a certain scale and looking for strong management professionals.
Most of our clients are active in the sectors I mentioned earlier: agriculture and the agri-food value chain, renewable energy, construction and logistics. In many cases, there is also an international investment component. Not always, but in around 80% of our assignments there is Western investment involved, or at least some form of Western management already present in the business.

That means there is often a cultural bridge between the West and Africa, and the candidates we search for need to be able to bridge that gap as well. These days, the profiles are not usually expats anymore. Around 80% of the candidates we place are African professionals.

However, they are often candidates who have studied abroad, worked or lived abroad, worked in an international setting within Africa, or gained experience with an international company on the continent. That is typically the kind of profile our clients are looking for.

What surprises foreign companies the most when they are recruiting leaders in Africa?

I think what surprises foreign companies the most is the quality of candidates available in Africa. This has been a very positive development over the past 10 years.

In the past, many companies were looking mainly for Western expats. Today, that request has shifted much more towards African expats or local African candidates. In some countries, companies are also required by regulation to apply localisation, but beyond that, many Western companies now clearly see the benefit of having African management in their businesses.

African leaders often bring essential local, country-specific or regional context, which can make a real difference to the success of a company. We often receive a client specification, begin the search, and then the client is pleasantly surprised by the high quality of the African candidates we present.

What are the biggest challenges and learnings from working interculturally?

Let me start with the learnings. I think working interculturally is incredibly valuable. When different cultures are understood and managed well, the benefits can be enormous. But if they are not managed well, cultural differences can also create serious challenges within a business.
For me, one of the biggest learnings is that working across cultures brings people closer together. When you try to understand different perspectives, it becomes not only interesting, but it also removes fear. You begin to understand each other’s differences better.
Another important learning is to stay open and not simply try to replicate what you think already works. What works in one country, culture or business environment may not work in another.
The challenge is that cultural differences can easily become obstacles when people do not understand each other. Sometimes differences in communication style, expectations or ways of working can be misinterpreted as underperformance, lack of motivation or unwillingness, when that is not the case at all.
It is a very delicate bridge, and it is a conversation we have almost every day with both clients and candidates. Our role is often to help them understand these differences and use them in the best possible way.

What is something that a foreign company would never guess about the professional market in Africa?

I think it again comes back to the quality of candidates. The level of African professionals available in the market is remarkable, and so are their passion, drive and entrepreneurship.
Many African professionals have learned to be very entrepreneurial and resourceful. Often, people have side businesses, projects or other initiatives running alongside their careers. There is a strong mindset of creating opportunities and making things happen.
That drive and entrepreneurial spirit can be a real surprise to many Western companies we work with. It is also a huge strength of African talent.
At the same time, companies should not mistake this for “cheap labour”. Fantastic African candidates come at a price, and rightfully so. High-quality leadership talent in Africa is valuable, and companies need to recognise that.

Why did you decide to join the Talentor network?

First of all, I have been in touch with Gertrud Eregger (Talentor International) for more than 10 years. She used to work in Ethiopia for a local recruiter, and she really understands what we do and has always appreciated our work. That connection has always been very warm.
The fact that she is now part of Talentor gives us a lot of trust that this is a great organisation to be part of. We have seen the network grow over the years, and we have always stayed in touch.
I think we were a little hesitant in the past to make the investment and to understand exactly what an international network could bring us. But now we feel we are ready to take that step. We believe we can bring great contacts and opportunities to the network, and of course we also see a lot of value in what the network can bring to us.
It is also a pleasure and an honour to be able to cover the whole continent of Africa within the Talentor network. In most regions, each country would usually have its own Talentor partner, so covering an entire continent is a bit unusual, but it also explains why Africa is such an interesting and different market.
We feel we are at the right size and the right point in our journey for Talentor to help us grow through its network, and for us to help Talentor and its partners grow through our own networks. We are really looking forward to it.

What do you think is great about being part of an international network / the Talentor network?

I think one of the great things about being part of an international network is that it allows you to expand your reach without taking on too much risk. Instead of building a large business development team yourself, you become part of a global network that can help leverage what you are doing - provided, of course, that we position and communicate it well.

It is a network that is established and long-term, and that brings a lot of potential. In a way, you suddenly have access to a global network that can open doors, create opportunities and strengthen what we are already doing. I am really looking forward to seeing how we can support and strengthen each other as partners.
At the same time, it is also wonderful to be part of a network of recruiters who are not direct competitors. That creates space to share best practices, successes, challenges and learnings.

Running an executive search and recruitment agency comes with a lot of entrepreneurial emotions, the wins, the losses, the excitement and the challenges. Being able to share that with other people who understand the industry is very valuable.