Truecaller appoints ex-Efritin boss, Zakaria Hersi as Director of Partnerships for Africa

Truecaller has announced the appointment of ex-Efritin boss, Zakaria Hersi as its Director of Partnerships for Africa.

Operating from its African headquarters, Nairobi Kenya, Zakaria will be spearheading Truecaller’s expansion in the region where he forges partnerships with various eco-system players.

Zakaria has a background of launching marketplaces around the world,  and helped the Swedish Investment firm Kinnevik launch Saltside in Nigeria where he was the Managing Director of Efritin.com. He also had two stints working for Swedish based company Besedo, where he helped open offices in Colombia and Mauritius.

“I’m excited to join Truecaller in such interesting juncture. My aim is to build upon the strong foundation that we have as a brand here and double up the pace of our growth and ambitions in the market. In the coming months we plan to roll out more partnerships and new services localized for the market.” said Zakaria Hersi, Director of Partnerships, Africa at Truecaller.

Truecaller helps people know who’s getting in touch, filter out unwanted calls and SMS. The company provides a suite of unique services such as a dialer that offers caller ID, spam detection, messaging and more. Its mission is to build trust everywhere by making communication safe and efficient. Headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden, the company was founded in 2009 by Alan Mamedi and Nami Zarringhalam. Investors include Sequoia Capital, Atomico and Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers.