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Dark Fibre Africa appoints chief commercial officer

Staff Writer
By Staff Writer, ITWeb
Johannesburg, 28 Oct 2025
Paul Divall, Dark Fibre Africa chief commercial officer.
Paul Divall, Dark Fibre Africa chief commercial officer.

Dark Africa (DFA) has appointed Paul Divall as chief commercial officer (CCO), saying the move marks a pivotal step in its strategy to sharpen commercial execution and strengthen market engagement.

In a statement, the company says Divall has served in multiple capacities within the telecommunications industry.

It notes that his appointment underscores the company’s commitment to aligning its strategy, products, operations and support with customer needs.

“Delivering value and making it easy for our customers to do business with us is central to how we will win in this industry,” says Divall. “Some of my focus areas will include simplifying engagement, ensuring service commitments are met or exceeded, and making accountability tangible in every interaction.”

As an experienced executive, Divall has held various leadership roles in a variety of businesses across technology, telecommunications and infrastructure, the company says.

It adds that Divall has a proven track record in environments where accountability and service delivery are critical.

As CCO, it explains, he will lead DFA’s commercial strategy, driving product go-to-market execution, collaboration, customer satisfaction and revenue growth.

“The opportunity lies in uniting commercial strategy and operational delivery,” Divall adds. “Our customers expect reliability, responsiveness and clear communication, as they should. My goal is to make sure every commercial decision we take directly supports those expectations.”

His appointment comes as DFA drives a national network expansion, including the rollout of Dry Underground Cabinets totalling over R800 million, which it says will strengthen the resilience and capacity of its fibre infrastructure.

Most recently, notes DFA, it demonstrated a record-breaking 1.6Tbps transmission trial in partnership with global connectivity leader Ciena.

According to DFA, Divall will be expected to convert this infrastructure momentum into customer value, commercial traction and sustainable growth.

His priorities will include enhancing responsiveness, shortening delivery cycles, tightening collaboration with ISPs and enterprise partners, and calibrating DFA’s commercial propositions to match evolving demands.

Phila Dube, group CCO of Maziv, DFA’s parent company, says: “Divall’s experience in this sector is precisely what DFA needs now. We must consolidate the progress we’ve made in network performance and translate that into greater customer confidence and sustainable growth, and he is the leader to drive this.”

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