From finance to the front line: leading sales in Africa
Africa is as complex as it is full of opportunity. In the latest episode of the Meet Sandvik podcast we talk to Tarynn Yatras, Vice President Sales Area Africa for the Rock Processing business area at Sandvik. She talks about leadership, growth and what it really takes to do business across one of the world’s most diverse continents.
Episode 63
From finance to the front line: leading sales in Africa
Based in Harare, Zimbabwe, Yatras leads sales operations across 11 Sandvik entities and three territories, supporting mining and infrastructure customers with rock processing solutions. But her career path hasn’t followed the traditional sales route. Starting out as an accountant, she made a deliberate shift into customer-facing roles.
“I’ve always found the customer-engaging side an exciting part. Moving from seeing the numbers to seeing how we actually get the numbers has always motivated me,” she says.
In this podcast, Yatras shares how Africa’s diversity – 54 countries, different regulations, currencies and infrastructure challenges – demands a deeply localized approach.
“Africa is unique. Strong local knowledge, partnerships and planning are absolutely critical to succeed here.”
Tarynn Yatras can look back on strong performance in rock processing over the past couple of years, driven by clearer strategy, increased local presence and targeted investments in people, training and technology. Looking ahead, she is optimistic about Africa as a growth market.
“Africa is a challenging market, but that’s also what keeps us on our toes. From a mining opportunity perspective, the future is highly optimistic.”
In each episode of the podcast Meet Sandvik you will meet different persons that give their perspective on Sandvik. Sometimes it´s an employee telling his or her story. Sometimes you will meet experts discussing how a hot topic can affect Sandvik.