Business software company, Sage has announced the appointment of Pieter Bensch as its new executive vice-president for Africa and the Middle East.

Sage says Bensch will lead the company's business across the region while focusing on the market for cloud-based accounting, people & payroll, and payments software. "He will also oversee the local strategy to help business builders and entrepreneurs move to an admin-free world by 2020."

"I'm joining at Sage at an exciting time when its business is enjoying rapid growth through Africa and the Middle East and its cloud-enabled products are gathering momentum. I'm looking forward to working closely with the regional team as we strive to help empower entrepreneurs and business owners to spend less time on admin and more time on what they love doing. With a high-performance culture, hunger for success and smart technology, Sage is a perfect fit for me," says Bensch.

Bensch joins Sage from Hewlett-Packard Enterprise (HPE), where he was managing director for South Africa. Prior to joining HP, Bensch held a range of senior positions at Oracle, including vice-president of Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), vice-president of customer support for MEA and vice-president and managing director of Oracle SA.

His LinkedIn profile reads; "Experienced Managing Director with a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry across Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. Skilled in Business Process, Sales management, corporate governance, Customer Service Management, Change management, Business Process Design, and Enterprise Software sales. Strong business development professional graduated from University of Johannesburg."