Ashraf Cozyn
Regional Sales & Country Management · Sub-Saharan Africa
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About
Regional sales leader covering Sub-Saharan Africa for international technology manufacturers. Eleven years in African B2B sales, the last seven selling foreign-manufactured technology into enterprise, government and defence buyers through distributors, dealers and formal public tender — the route to market most global vendors depend on in this region. Leads a six-person commercial team across five markets against a R40m (≈US$2.2m) annual number, delivered at 98% in 2025 and 93% year-to-date in 2026.
Wins competitive public tenders at a 65% rate, including a R25m Transnet infrastructure contract and a R3m South African Navy SATCOM supply tender.
Experience
Group Sales Manager at SMD Africa Marine (2023-01 – Present)
Six-person team (5 sales representatives, 1 business development manager) · R40m annual target · South Africa, Namibia, Kenya, Angola, West Africa · 15+ OEM principals · Microsoft Dynamics 365
- Delivered 98% of the R40m annual target in 2025 and 93% year-to-date at August 2026, growing territory revenue 11% over two years.
- Won R31m in tender and contract business since 2023, led by a R25m Transnet infrastructure maintenance contract and a R3m South African Navy SATCOM supply tender — both competitive public tenders.
- Manage 15+ OEM principal relationships — including Furuno, JRC, Cobham/Sailor, Sperry and Jotron — and a dealer network of 11 partners across 4 countries.
- Built the reporting layer over Microsoft Dynamics 365 that runs weekly pipeline and forecast review; loss-cause analysis across 500 opportunities isolated 80% of losses to two fixable causes, leading to SLA-managed customer response and an expanded coordination team.
- 4 of six commercial staff at or above quota in 2025.
- Lead six-month public procurement cycles spanning technical evaluation, formal tender submission, local-content requirements and multi-level approval.
Key Account Manager / Sales Representative at Marine Navigation Systems (2019-08 – 2022-12)
Navigation, communication and safety systems · commercial shipping, fishing and government fleets · South Africa · personal target R4m
- Delivered R4m+ annually against a R4m personal target, selling navigation, communication and safety systems into commercial shipping, fishing and government fleets.
- Won 65% of formal tenders and RFQs submitted to government and commercial buyers.
- Built the dealer and channel relationships underpinning South African coverage across the navigation, communication and safety portfolios.
Key Account Manager at Imperial Logistics (2015-01 – 2019-12)
- Managed a R20m B2B account portfolio serving the South African film and production sector, retaining 100% of accounts and opening 50+ new ones over four years.
Financial Advisor at Liberty Group (2014-01 – 2015-12)
Marketing Representative at Damelin (2014-01 – 2015-12)
Education
BTech & National Diploma in Marketing Management – Cape Peninsula University of Technology (2006-01 – 2011-12)
BA (Honours) in Motion Picture Production – AFDA (2012-01 – 2013-12)
