WPP-Scangroup Appoints New CEO to Steer Turnaround As Traditional Advertising Businesses Take A Hard Hit
WPP Scangroup PLC, one of Africa’s largest marketing and communications conglomerates, has announced the appointment of Akua Brayie Owusu-Nartey as its new Group Chief Executive Officer and CEO of Ogilvy Africa, effective November 17, 2025.
This leadership transition comes at a critical time as the firm grapples with persistent financial headwinds and the need for strategic realignment in a rapidly evolving advertising market. Owusu-Nartey’s mandate is to leverage her extensive industry experience to stabilise the core business and steer the group back to profitability. She takes over from Miriam Kaggwa, acting CEO and current COO, who has been leading the transition period after the former CEO, Patricia Ithau, left at the end of her contract period.
Akua Owusu-Nartey brings over 18 years of experience in integrated communications, brand transformation, and business growth across multiple African markets, including leadership roles in Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zambia. Her career at Ogilvy Africa has seen her rise through the ranks: Prior to her current role as Regional Managing Director and Chief Client Officer for Sub-Saharan Africa at Ogilvy, she served as the Managing Director of Ogilvy Ghana.
She has managed large, cross-functional teams and helped drive business growth for major global and regional clients such as Coca-Cola, Guinness, and Vodafone. In 2019, she led her team at Ogilvy Ghana to bring home a Global Sabre award for their work on UNICEF’s Ghanaians Against Child Abuse (GACA) campaign. The WPP-Scangroup Board has expressed confidence in her skill set, which, they say, is precisely what is needed to navigate the group’s current complexities. “(It is) an honour and an incredible responsibility to build on strong foundations and shape what comes next. I look to the future with optimism,” Owusu-Nartey added in a short LinkedIn statement.
Owusu-Nartey steps into the role as WPP Scangroup attempts to reverse a period of deep financial instability. The group slid into a significant net loss of close to USD 4 million in the financial year ended December 2024, reversing a profit from the previous year. This downturn was compounded by several factors.
First, a significant foreign exchange loss of USD 1.9 million was recorded, primarily due to the strengthening of the Kenyan shilling against the US dollar, which eroded the value of foreign currency holdings. Secondly, the firm suffered from client attrition, including one of its biggest accounts, Airtel Africa, which opted to work with Johannesburg-based Publicis Groupe Africa and its Kenyan affiliate, The Partnership, which is a company founded by three of Scangroups former employees.
The merger of its digital-only business, Squad Digital, with Scangroup Kenya, also saw some of its clients lose confidence seeming collapse of Scangroup’s digital strategy, as did the closure of two significant creative businesses that severely impacted its top-line revenue, which fell by over 23%. This was further exacerbated by a broader market shift where clients reduced discretionary spending on mainstream media advertising in key African markets, slowing the transition to digital platforms.
Structurally, the company has also faced internal challenges, including the exit of previous leadership and a comprehensive restructuring programme involving staff layoffs and the divestiture of underperforming subsidiaries in markets like South Africa and Nigeria. Moving forward, the new CEO will focus on stabilising operations, capitalising on the momentum of digital offerings through its Ogilvy and GroupM brands, and tightening cost controls to return the company to a sustainable path.
Picture Courtesy LinkedIn/Akua Braiye Owusu-Nartey
