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Babcock has appointed Deon de Kock as Chief Executive for Africa, effective January 2026, bringing more than 30 years of executive experience across the mining, engineering, industrial and energy sectors to one of the continent’s most established engineering and support services businesses.
De Kock succeeds Roger O’Callaghan, who led Babcock Africa for more than two decades. His appointment follows senior leadership roles at some of the world’s most significant industrial organisations including President for Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and South Asia at FLSmidth and Vice President for South Europe, North Africa and the Middle East at Sandvik. Most recently, he served as CEO of Electrical Engineering and Renewable Energy at Reunert Limited. He holds a Bachelor of Engineering from the University of Pretoria and an MBA from Bond University, Australia.
Three months into the role, De Kock has been direct about what drew him to the organisation and what he intends to build on. “In today’s leadership environment, alignment is everything. For me, cultural fit goes beyond surface-level similarity and is really about alignment with a company’s principles and how its people work together to deliver. Babcock’s strong people focus and collaborative culture resonate with my people-first style of leadership,” explained De Kock.
His immediate priorities centre on operational performance, consistent customer value delivery and talent development, the last of which he describes as close to his heart. Babcock’s investment in structured development programmes including its Graduate Programme and apprenticeships, provides the foundation he intends to build on. De Kock noted, “I am glad that I am joining a business that has a solid foundation for talent development. We shall build on the existing structures and programmes in order to accelerate people development thus ensuring the growth of our people and the retention of our top-performing talent.”
For a business operating across key sectors including mining, defence and engineering support services in Africa, De Kock’s appointment signals continuity of operational discipline combined with a renewed emphasis on people-led growth as the engine of long-term performance.
