In a move that caught the local industry by surprise, Hans Swart, country manager for Acer Southern Africa, yesterday announced his resignation from the company.
Swart took up the position of country manager in November last year following the departure of Graham Braum to Lenovo and had previously been Acer’s CFO in the region for more than a decade.
And, according to reliable sources, Acer has another surprise up its sleeve when it officially announces Swart’s successor.
David Drummond, former country manager of Acer Africa from 2003 to 2007 and then head of its UK operations from January 2008 to March 2009, will take up the position of country manager for Acer Southern Africa effective 1 October.
Drummond left Acer – along with a number of other senior executives – in July 2009 to join Lenovo as senior manager for transactional business in Africa. This was followed by his promotion to GM for the UAE and Gulf from March 2011 to February 2012. It was then that he headed back to South Africa to take over from Henry Ferreira as country GM for Lenovo Africa.
In September last year he resigned from Lenovo to join e-tailer LivDigital as CEO. Former Acer regional head Braum then officially succeeded him in November.
At the time of going to press, Acer had yet to make any public announcement about Swart’s departure and Drummond’s appointment, but an official statement is expected to be released next week.
