Future Leader Season 5

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Bashni, an experienced Chief Strategy Officer, Executive Market Analyst and Commercial Director, has over two decades of sector-specific expertise gathered at senior leadership level, both locally and abroad. 

Proudly South African and a National Travel / Tourism Industry expert, Bashni has crafted a celebrated career in strategic research and advanced analytics. 

Over the course of her 16 years in long service with South African Tourism (SAT), across South Africa and the European Region, Bashni has delivered multiple profitable Marketing Strategies. In her current role as Executive Committee Member, she spearheads key strategy formulation for Tourism promotion.

Prior to this, Bashni led SAT’s Strategic Research Unit for over 14 years, as well as being Regional Director for Europe Tourism. In 2016, Bashni was seconded by the organisation to France, where she set up its Southern Europe hub, established a viable operating model, and successfully served the French, Spanish and Italian markets.

Bashni holds a BCom (Hons) degree in Marketing from the University of Pretoria, specializing in Tourism Management.

Listen to Bashni's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

ACG Group CEO and Co-Founder, Mimi Kalinda, is a visionary and leader in the field of PR and communications – both in Africa and globally. 

A New York University graduate, Mimi has accumulated a wealth of strategic media experience across different industries, specialties and continents. 

This includes her work in film (working alongside greats such as acclaimed director Spike Lee), television (notably being the first African woman to host a show on MTV Europe), traditional and digital media. 

Her resume includes: being a FleishmanHillard’s Africa Lead, being part of the team that won a PRISM Award (for the Barclays Africa “Prosper” campaign), part of the African Unions campaign against Ebola, work for Weber Shandwick on the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Innovation Prize for Africa. 

Mimi has worked on numerous brands, some being MTN, Barloworld, Accenture, the World Bank/IFC, the Rockefeller Foundation, AFIG Funds. Nesta, the African Development Bank (AfDB) and the Dalberg Group, to name a few. 

Mimi has been nominated for numerous awards (such as International African Woman of the Year at the Women4Africa Awards 2016 and the Standard Bank Top Woman Entrepreneur of the Year Award 2019), and is the recipient of Rebranding Africa Champion for Africa 2.0 accolade and the One World Media Award for television programme Rien Que La Verite (which advocates the prevention of HIV/AIDS and an end to violence against women in the DRC). 

Additionally, Mimi is an Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Programme Fellow. It’s no wonder that she was featured as one of Forbes Africa’s Top 40 Under 40 Leaders in the communication industry. 

Mimi a well-recognised public speaker and facilitator (both in terms of her own workshops as well as part of projects such as Obama Foundation Leaders Africa programme, the UCT Graduate School of Business Conference and the African Trade and Investment Global Summit 2018 held in Washington, DC), as well as a valuable contributor to a number of organisations. 

These include being on the boards of Catalyst for Growth or C4G (a solution launched by JP Morgan and Dalberg to support entrepreneurs across Africa) and the African Brand Counsel (where she advises policy makers and private sector leaders about Africa’s reputation and how the continent’s brand equity can be leveraged for its economic development). 

Changing the Africa narrative and promoting women in African leadership roles are causes close to her heart. She avidly supports these issues through her work as part of ACG, as well as by being a reputable thought leader championing pan-Africanism and female empowerment. 

Keen to share her insight and knowledge with the African continent and broader global community, Mimi published  her first book, titled: Talking To Africa: Considering Culture in Communication for a Complex Continent in 2017. 

Less known facts about Mimi is that, in addition to English, she is fluent in French, Swahili, Lingala and Kinyarwanda.  

Listen tro Mimi's Inmterview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Mncedisi Mayekiso recently took on an expanded role at Internet Solutions (IS), in a new capacity as executive for business development.

In his new role, which became effective on 1 February 2018, Mayekiso will be responsible for revenue growth in its enterprise business.

Mayekiso will continue to lead public sector strategy, maintaining executive sponsorship of key accounts across the private and public sectors throughout the country. He will also rebuild the VCP and enterprise development channel.

Mayekiso joined the Dimension Data unit as public sector executive in 2016.

In 2010, he was appointed as SAP Africa's marketing director. 

He previously held positions as partner sales manager at Microsoft SA, and product marketing manager at IBM SA. He also served as executive director for marketing at Faritec Holdings and was executive director for business development at Enterprise Connection.

Mayekiso holds a bachelor's degree in social science and humanities, industrial sociology and political science from the University of Cape Town, as well as an MBA in marketing from Cass Business School in the UK.

He completed the global executive development programme, a leadership and general management programme, at the Gordon Institute of Business Science.

Listen to Mncedisi's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Welcome to my world. I work at the edge of business, design and the futures. By bringing together my long track record in business and engineering with design thinking and futures studies I am able to help you navigate through complexity and disruption.”

Abbas is currently the Director for Innovation and Transformation at Aurecon Group, a global engineering and infrastructure advisory company.  He is responsible for driving Aurecon’s Innovation Programme in Africa as well as crafting Aurecon’s transformation strategy in South Africa.

He has spent his career across government and private sector as well as establishing a number of start-up businesses. He has been involved in numerous mergers and acquisitions as well as project initiation teams for major infrastructure projects in South Africa, including the Gautrain project in Gauteng and the N2 Gateway housing project in Cape Town.

Being a trained systems thinker and futurist allows him to bring a new perspective to Aurecon’s innovation and transformation portfolio.

He is a registered professional engineer and holds qualifications across the engineering, business and futures fields. 

His specialist areas include Business Strategy, Afrikan Innovation, Design Thinking, Transformation of corporate South Africa and Futures Thinking. 

He has conceptualized and launched the Afrikan Design Innovation dialogue with the World Design Organisation and has presented at numerous local and international conferences across Africa on this topic. Through this initiative he was nominated to the position of Community liaison Africa for the World Design Organisation.  

Prior to joining Aurecon he spent a number of years as the Portfolio Manager of Strategic Investments at Optimus Investments in Johannesburg.

He was also Managing Director of Arcus Gibb where he led a successful management buyout from Jacobs Engineering, a NYSE listed company, in 2002 and was responsible for crafting the company’s transformation programme at the time.

Abbas is passionate about youth development and is a mentor for the Alan Grey Orbis Foundation as well as an Aurecon mentor.  He also serves on the boards of Open Design Afrika and Consulting Engineers South Africa.

Listen to Abbas' interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Taki is an experienced executive director with a demonstrated history of working in the Information Communication and Technology space. She is skilled in government, diplomacy, cyber security, management, national security, policy and legal research analysis and advisory services and law writing. 

Taki obtained an LLB degree and a Higher Diploma in Company Law from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), BJuris from the University of Venda, Master's Degree in Security Studies from the University of Pretoria, Post Graduate Certificates (Wits) in Cybersecurity (cum laude) and in Protection of Information; and Executive Education Certificates from Wits and Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Taki was appointed as Chief Officer: Corporate Affairs for Vodacom Group with effect from September 2016. She was later appointed as executive director in Vodacom South Africa and Chairperson of the Vodacom Foundation. 

Taki has had a stint as a part-time lecturer in Administrative Law at the University of Venda. She then spent 20 years in government mainly as a lawyer and policy advisor in the security cluster whilst employed in the Minister for Intelligence Services. 

She developed well-honed legal writing skills as a law writer, and in public policy development, and stakeholder and relationship management. These competencies were augmented during her 4 year stint as Ambassador of the Republic of South Africa in Hungary and Croatia. 

Before taking up the diplomatic post, she operated as CEO of Electronic Communications Security (Pty) (Ltd), a state owned entity that was established under the then National Intelligence Agency. 

She received several merit awards which include the Hungarian Eotvos (ELTE) University commemorative medal and certificate for relentless efforts to promote academic and cultural collaboration between South Africa and Hungary, and deepening bilateral relations between the two countries. 

She was also awarded the Intelligence Services Woman of the Year award for meritorious contribution to the South African intelligence policy and legal dispensation. She was admitted as an Advocate of the High Court of South Africa in 1996. 

Taki is currently the Read to Lead Ambassador for the Department of Basic Education encouraging children in an Early Childhood Development Centre in Kaalfontein, Midrand to read in mother tongue (African ethnic languages).

Listen to Taki's interview on Vimeo, Youtube and Soundcloud

Nolulamo (Lulu) Nobambiswano Gwagwa completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Fort Hare. She proceeded to the University of Natal’s Planning School where she completed her Masters in Town and Regional Planning. 

From there Dr Lulu Gwagwa went to the London School of Economics and Political Science where she graduated cum laude with an M.Sc. She then obtained a PhD from University College London.

The early years of Dr Gwagwa’s career focused mainly on physical planning. In 1986 she started work at the Built Environment Support Group. The NGO based at the University of Natal, supported communities in townships and squatter settlements with their housing and related struggles.

After studying abroad, Dr Gwagwa took up a position in 1992 a senior lecturer at the University of Natal’s Department of Town and Regional Planning. While there she served on a 12 member Commission for the Delineation and Demarcation of Provincial Boundaries, which decided on the country’s current provincial boundaries. 

She was then appointed a Deputy Director General in the national Department of Public Works from 1995 until 1998. Dr Gwagwa was instrumental in the development of policy for the transformation of the construction industry and managed an infrastructure led job creation programme.

In 1995 Dr Gwagwa also served as the presidential appointee on the Commission on Provincial Government and as Deputy Chair of the Ministerial Advisory Committee on Local Government Transformation. 

As CEO of the Independent Development Trust (IDT), from 1998 until 2003, Dr Gwagwa transformed the Trust from a grant making to a development management agency. 

Under her leadership the IDT was appointed to assist government in the coordination of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Programme. 

Policy research also forms part of Dr Gwagwa’s extensive resume. She was appointed by the World Bank, in 2004, to co-produce a research paper on the history and status of Community Driven Development in South Africa. 

Aside from authoring policy documents, Dr Gwagwa has also published in the fields of gender, housing and development management.

Currently the Chief Executive Officer of Lereko Investments, a black-owned investment company. Dr Gwagwa also serves as non-executive director of FirstRand, Massmart and Sun International. She is also the Chairperson of Aurecon Africa. She recently served as the Deputy Chairperson of the Eastern Cape Planning Commission. 

Dr Gwagwa’s passion for spatial equity has driven her philanthropic work. Two decades ago she founded the Mhakazi Trust to empower the young people of Umzimkulu, some of whom have even graduated from tertiary institutions. 

Dr Lulu Gwagwa is a multifaceted woman: an accomplished development planner; business leader; and philanthropist. She is a keen writer and photographer who is currently studying philosophy. 

Listen to Dr Gwagwa's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Rashid Toefy is currently the Deputy Director General: Economic Operations in the Department of Economic Development and Tourism.

Before joining the department, Rashid was the Managing Director of MCI in Africa. The MCI Group is world’s largest conference and association management company, and brings people together through innovative meetings, events andb congresses and provides strategic association management consultancy in 60 cities around the world.

He served as the Chief Executive Officer of the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), the leading convention centre in Africa from 2008 to 2014, positioning it as a global leader in sustainability.

He has worked extensively in the travel and tourism industry, both in South Africa and abroad. He spent three years based in Amsterdam, developing business and marketing strategies for travel companies and tourism businesses in over 30 countries, working extensively in Central Europe and Latin America.

Rashid is a member of the United Nations Global Compact Advisory Board in South Africa. He has a degree in Economics and Environmental Science, as well an MBA from the University of Cape Town with his Masters Dissertation focusing on Collaborative Leadership, balancing discipline and diversity in effective decision making.

Rashid has become a thought leader on sustainability and implementation of triple bottom line principles within an organisation. He has spoken at several conferences, both in South Africa and abroad, about the importance and value of establishing social and environmental consciousness in businesses.

Rashid hates settling for mediocrity, and wants to do profound things that impact positively on all those around him.

He says:

“we all need to make the following two ancient philosophies part of our lives….the first is the Japanese concept of Kaizen – “continuous improvement” and the second is the uniquely African concept of Ubuntu meaning “I am because we are”.

Listen to Rashid's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Pankaj Bhula has just under 35 years’ experience in the Digital Technology Industry, both locally and internationally, which includes the likes of working for IBM, Dimension Data, Microsoft and SAP. 

As a Computer Science and MBA Graduate, Pankaj has achieved notable success throughout his career, including the most recognized, that being of manager of the year at Microsoft and best team of the year for the same period. 

During his tenure at SAP Africa, Pankaj headed several business units, ranging from the Strategic Partnership Organization to the Cloud Group and General Business Division. 

In his most recent role as Regional Director of Check Point Software Technologies in Africa, Pankaj has enjoyed the success of transforming a diverse team whilst delivering a high performance environment, a skill and characteristic profoundly needed in this ever-demanding Cyber Security sector.

Pankaj is passionate about the opportunity in Africa and continues to evangelize technology and its responsibility to the continent.

Pankaj is married with 2 children. He enjoys outdoor nature activities and in the past few years, taken a strong liking towards Marathon and Trail running.

Listen to Pankaj's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

Sally Acton founded is the CEO of the Employee Experience Consultancy, Torque Solutions, which she founded in 2011. 

Her appetite for starting new ventures has also extended to the inception of Be A Better Human in 2020 and the development of The Future EX in 2021.  

Her passion for learning and uplifting both people and communities led Sally to start Be A Better Human, an eLearning platform that raises money for more than 20 charities.  

The Future EX is a thought-leadership community that aims to communicate trends in HR and EX to the wider business community.  

With her ‘walk the talk’ style, Sally’s approach to leading her team and driving innovation in the EX space has allowed her to influence the working environment of more than 80 000 people in 13 different countries.  

Her clients include the likes of Massmart, PepsiCo, Pioneer Foods, Builders Warehouse, Flight Centre, Redefine and Wilderness Safaris.  Sally is a mother of three and competes as a SA Masters’ athlete at both Olympic Weightlifting and Powerlifting. 

Listen to Sally's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo  

The PERSONAL BRANDING FEATURE: Certified Financial Planner and Director at Kainos Financial Services, obtained his Post Graduate Diploma in Financial Planning at the University of Free State and his MDP & AEP from UNISA.

He currently is Chairperson’s of the FIA RDR Intermediary Workgroup, Liberty Ethics Committee and Vice-Chairperson of the FPI Client Engagement Committee. 

He also serves on the FPI Annual Convention Committee and Million Dollar Round Table (MDRT) Income Replacement Task Force.  

Kobus additionally hold membership to SAIT (Tax Practitioner), the Fiduciary Institute of Southern Africa (FISA), the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioner (STEP- with a TEP Designation), Financial Intermediaries Association of Southern Africa (FIA), The Insurance Institute of South Africa (IISA) and The Institute of Ethics South Africa and Unashamedly Ethical. 

Kobus was the inaugural winner in 2015 of the FPI “It starts with Me” award and also received the award in 2016 and is a FPI and MDRT Pro-Bono Volunteer. Kobus was awarded the MDRT Leadership Award.

Kobus has a Passion for the Financial Services Profession and works purposefully with other like-minded stakeholders to help transform the financial industry into a fully fledge profession through the power of social- and print media and other means like presentations, workshops talks and other. Kobus has already published over 200 articles in and on various media platforms.

Kobus is a thought leader on the Financial Services Profession, RDR/Twin Peaks/TCF and similar regulations, Digital Media Power, Personal Branding, Futuristic Leadership, Crypto Technology, as well as other disruptive Fintech subjects.

Kobus has authored the books “Passion for the profession- Mastering the 9 P’s to Professionalism” and “RDR-Mastering Key Elements to RDR”. 

Listen to Kobus' interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Dave Stewart is the Managing Director of First Consulting Alliance based in Edenvale, Johannesburg. FCA is a Computer Services company servicing the SME and Mining Sectors in and around Southern Africa and into selected African countries where our solutions fit the needs of the customers. 

Dave has a financial background and ventured out into the entrepreneurial field about 30 years ago seeking to make a difference in the market place and positively influence people. 

He is committed to growing people through employment opportunities and believes that everyone deserves a chance or two to find their place and standing in our communities

He believes that we need to treat customers, clients and suppliers as partners and make every effort to grow their business and people which would in turn, grow our business and people.

Dave is an eMail junky and love the challenge of responding to all business related eMail within one day of receiving them and ensuring continuous communication flow. 

Service, Honesty, Integrity and Determination to deliver on customer requirements based on our defined strategy drives him to grow the business and employ more people and change lives positively

Dave enjoys working with the local community and people to grow leaders and develop a culture of pay it forward in all areas of life.

A personal passion is to create an awareness of employment opportunities and to work with people and organisations to create a culture of meaningful employers of the youth of our country and to grow them into future leaders.

Listen to Dave's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

And Dave's Lessons from Covid-19 Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Ms Luthuli is the Divisional Executive for Corporate Affairs at the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). Prior to joining the IDC, she held the role of Vice President, Corporate Affairs & Shared Services at PetroSA. 

A passionate and experienced communicator, Ms Luthuli has had various roles in both private and public sector entities. She holds a BA in Communication and an MBA.

As Divisional Executive: Corporate Affairs, Zama holds a critical role. This is evident when she points to the files she has in front of her, of entrepreneurs the IDC has developed. She speaks animatedly about them. This job, clearly, is more than a job for her.

“I see it as a contribution to the continent,” she says, which makes the long hours and lengthy Exco meetings worthwhile. It’s something bigger than us, it’s about other people. We work long hours, we get so tired but we look at people’s businesses and see the impact in their lives, and then the long meetings no longer matter.”

The IDC is the national development finance institution in South Africa set up to promote economic growth and industrial development. Zama was only 37 when she assumed an executive role for the first time, in her previous job, at PetroSA. 

Born in KwaZulu-Natal, Zama worked very hard in order not to disappoint her mother, and graduated in communications.

Thereafter, she says she was always fortunate finding employment. That’s also because she was willing to take risks. “I always knew I wanted to be in a corporate environment.”

But she has a piece of advice for young people. “If you want a job, make one,” she says. “With challenges, you learn, you grow, you adjust. There will be a woman who has been there before, so rely on her skills. It’s important to have a mentor. You need to understand the lay of the land, understand the organization.

“And always look for a business opportunity in what you do while you are employed. There are so many creative ideas we encounter on a daily basis. Whilst you are working, work on your dream, work on an idea, have a back-up plan.”

Listen to Zama's interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo

Richard Sutton  is an adviser on stress management and adaptability to industry leaders, top athletes and Olympic teams. He is widely regarded as an expert in the field of genetics and their role in resilience and human performance. 

Richard has been a post-graduate lecturer in the areas of performance, health and athlete development for almost two decades at leading universities. He is the author of the bestseller, The Stress Code, a ‘surviving to thriving’ guide to stress and has recently released his new book Stressproof, The Game Plan. 

Listen to Richard's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Titilayo is the Country Manager for SAP Nigeria and is responsible for ensuring the daily operations of the country. 

In addition, she manages the Sales portfolio for the English speaking West African Region, ensuring quarter on quarter achievements. 

As a high performing technology sales leader, she prides herself in helping customers move their digital initiatives from strategy to execution, using technologies like Cloud computing, Enterprise Resource Planning, Analytics and industry solutions powered by Artificial Intelligence. 

She holds a Bachelors of Science Degree from the University of Waterloo, Canada and a Masters of Medical Science degree from Lund University, Sweden. 

She’s passionate about bridging the digital skills gap in Africa and championed several graduate programs and CSR projects focused on addressing this gap. Her sales leadership career started at Oracle Corporation in Nigeria where she managed the Telecommunications technology business and led the Oracle Women’s Leadership program for 2 years. 

In her current role at SAP, she enjoys advancing the progress of the Circular Economy with technology to produce new forms of value creation within West Africa. 

She has over 10 years of experience working in Information Technology, Public Health, Financial Services and Telecommunications industries in both Canada, Denmark and Nigeria. Titilayo is most passionate about advocating for Women’s Leadership and Growth in the technology industry. 

Listen to Titilayo's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Tash now works with a great team at YES to connect youth to jobs (btw there are 5,7 million unemployed youth in SA). With the equally brilliant team at Boundless, she develops models with companies to foster development and embed deeper societal value and meaning to brands in low income communities.

Tashmia hopes fervently to finish her PhD at UNU-MERIT in Maastricht and is not giving up. She is a part-time lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science where she teaches innovation and strategies for low income markets.

Tashmia is interested in inclusive business models and how innovative and sustainable strategies can be shaped for firms in developing markets.

Currently, her research focus is directed at behaviorally based, digital, business skills training, entrepreneurship, collaborative network theory and employment creation.

Tashmia strives to be mindful, has a deep appreciation of trees and considers chocolate a food group. 

Listen to Tashmia's Interview on  Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

Michael is a Principal & Founder at Go-to-Market Pros. He was formerly a marketing executive and General Manager at Staples & Reebok. 

He founded his company eight years ago to help companies make significant inroads into new markets & product categories. 

Michael specializes in helping companies grow revenue through innovative sales and marketing programs. Michael developed and optimized a new sales & marketing methodology in 2018 called “Magnet Marketing” 

This methodology cuts through the clutter to secure Net New Prospect Meetings (NNPMs) while generating fresh customer-centric content for lead generation
 

Michael works extensively with SaaS companies to increase MRR. He has developed and launched customer training & customer success programs for SaaS clients such as QuickBase. 

Michael sets up and facilitates VCABs for his clients (Virtual Customer and Prospect Advisory Panels) 

This new online capability helps companies get closer to prospects and customers while generating “Thought Leadership” for marketing.

Michael has held executive sales & marketing positions at Aptus Health (recently purchased by WebMD) PlumChoice & Student Advantage. Michael’s client including P&G, Salesforce, Accenture, Conde Nast, StitcherAds, QuickPivot, Nielsen, Deloitte, Exchange Solutions, Currnt, and the Irish Government.

Michael is a judge for the North American Customer Centricity Awards in Texas, in June 2020.

Michael has an MBA from Babson College, Wellesley, MA and an undergraduate degree from Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland. Michael regularly publishes sales & marketing best practices and often speaks at sales and marketing conference with organizations as the American Marketing Association (AMA) and the Enterprise Sales Forum (ESF) 

Michael holds a U.S patent for a consumer imaging product. He lives in the Canton, MA with his family.

Listen to Michael's Interview on Vimeo, YouTube and SoundCloud

Diana has a sound background in strategy, operations and service delivery with a clear understanding of the commercial banking value chain and the current Fintech evolution. 

Being a seasoned expert with more than 15 years’ industry experience, she served as Deputy Chief Operating Officer at Cavmont Bank Zambia prior to joining Zanaco, where she delivered business strategy and developed systems and procedures to improve operational quality and team efficiency while leveraging on technology and innovation to drive positive change across the bank. 

She is an articulate communicator and resourceful problem solver, capable of building lasting relationships with senior management of clients, partners and vendors. 

When all is said and done, Diana would like to be remembered as one that had faith in people’s potential, the enduring spirit of team work and took time to encourage her team to soar beyond their comfort zone and put her soul into anything that she committed to by striving to represent her Maker in all that her hands found to do. 

Diana holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics & Telecommunications Engineering from the University of Zambia, a Master’s Degree in Communication & Information Systems from Huazhong University of Science and Technology (HUST) in China and a Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA) from the Copperbelt University. She is a final year candidate of a Doctorate of Business Administration at the Binary University of Management Entrepreneurship of Malaysia.

Listen to Diana's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

The role of Chief Operating Officer was a natural progression for Mehmood to assume the leadership of strategic operations that will continue to build the SAP brand as the top ICT provider across the African continent.

As the Chief Operating Officer Mehmood communicates a clear vision of the future, motivates through inspiration, mobilises teams and actively establishes relationships characterised by mutual respect and trust.

In his previous roles as Services Director SAP MENA and SAP Africa, Mehmood supported the successful deployment and operation of SAP customer’s systems solutions.  

He ensured SAP Services delivered the best Business Consulting, Technical Consulting, Solution Implementation, Custom Development and Education Services.  

He was responsible for all aspects of leadership, positioning, sales, delivery, revenue growth and profitability of the SAP Services business.

As SAP Africa Value Engineer Lead, Mehmood helped customers develop practical implementation plans and business cases for IT transformation working with blue chip South African companies to structure multi-million rand investments in SAP.

In his role as IT Strategy Manager at PwC, Mehmood led engagements with South African companies to create IT strategies, specialising in M&A and restructuring initiatives.

Mehmood has a BSc Applied Mathematics from the University of Witwatersrand and an MBA INSEAD (France). 

 Listen to Mehmood's interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Simone is a woman of class and integrity but that does not mean that a sense of adventure and lust for the unusual has failed her. To think that her life has been a conventional one would be a grave misinterpretation of a woman who continues to inspire us with her success and determination every day. 

Having lived and worked on three different continents, she has juggled being a single mother of two alongside starting up not one but two successful businesses. 

Simone’s experience in retail and the FMCG industry spans two decades. She has an incredible eye for spotting trends. While working as the General Manager of The RCL group Innovation Hub for 10 years, and Ideas and Insight Manager for a further three, she was involved on all levels of innovation and strategy. 

Travelling the globe to scout ideas and approaches, analysing and applying trends, predicting trends and product directions. It was on one of these scouting trips in early 2015 that her idea to launch Musgrave Gin was born. 

Simone’s entrepreneurial spirit is, however, innate thanks to her father Keith Musgrave and her grandfather and inspiration for her Musgrave brand, Maurice Boon Musgrave. 

In 2001 she launched her first start-up called Yum Nums Baby Food. The product was a frozen range of baby food supplied into Pick n Pay, Baby City and Spar. Purity eventually took over the product range and branded it Purity at which point she exited the business taking her experience to Woolworths, where she worked as their client liaison between Gull Foods and Woolworths. Her role here for the following four years was in trend analysing and range planning across all prepared food categories. 

“The baby food business was such a learning curve for me,” says Simone. “It’s how I got my ‘degree’ in retail production and distribution as well as starting my own brand. I learnt so much from this experience, from developing a product, working with designers, dealing with retailers, delivering to stores, managing factory staff and distribution.” 

Considering that which does not kill you can only make you stronger encouraged Simone to launch her second start-up, Onezee Jumpsuits and Streetwear in 2012 with a fellow colleague. This was in response to a growing global trend for fashion that was cool, hip and comfortable. They negotiated a licensing agreement with Disney to print their characters onto the onesies and for a time, the business was successful.That was, however, until the mass retailers caught onto the trend and we closed shop. 

So how does one go from baby food to onesies to gin and now brandy? Simone sums it up into one word, epicurean. “I love beautiful things. It inspires me to imagine and create brands that are beautiful and luxurious in every way.” 

In 2015, Simone launched South Africa’s first craft gin. The idea was first conceptualised while on a trendspotting trip to the UK, after noticing the craft trend shifting between categories with gin making the biggest impact. Back home, the craft beer market was flooded making the timing just right. Competing with many other luxury gin brands was not going to be easy, which meant the Musgrave Gin needed to stand out. 

Consumers are always looking for a story in their product. They want a drinking experience and ingredients which they can both relate to and play with. 

Simone had recently read up on her family history and on the travels of her grandfather, Maurice Boon Musgrave. He was an ‘honest Christian man with a burning desire to help people and a willingness to travel across the world to do so. 

Having left Plymouth in 1949 bound for Africa he was set to start a new life exploring and discovering the African people and the land on which they lived. After three months on a ship with a small baby, measles and many a day of seasickness, the adventure which would change the shape of his family had begun. This spirit of endeavour, adventure and courage was what Simone wanted to live on through her Musgrave Gin. This was the story which she wanted to shape it and the story she wanted to dedicate her vision to. 

Having experienced the ‘Sundowner Gin’ in Africa as a child she followed these core African influences and put them together to create Musgrave Gin. An artisan product celebrated for its top notes of Cardamom, African Ginger and Grains of Paradise. 

Simone, however, was not going to stop there. Very much at the forefront of the gin revolution here in Cape Town her gin became a huge success, faster than she ever could have hoped. With Gin Bars, cocktails and usage on menu’s all over the city, the adventurer in Simone was ready to set her sights upon a new challenge. Channelling her style, elegance and femininity, South Africa’s very first Pink Gin was born. Distilled with Musgrave’s signature eleven botanicals Simone softened the high notes of Cardamom, African Ginger and Grains of Paradise with a dash of perfume and a splash of romance. Rose hips are added during the distilling process and the expressive Cardamom and obligatory Juniper contributions are softened so as not to mask the gentle perfume of the roses. A further infusion of rosewater adds a subtly exotic perfume and flavour to the gin. 

Of course, in true Musgrave style, the inspiration behind Musgrave Pink Gin does not come without a story of its own. 

Simone’s love of romance had led her to seek inspiration from the romance of the Bygone era - ‘Africa’s romance and the fascination which the world has with Africa’. 

Of course, there is the history which Simone drew upon - predominantly Cleopatra. The famed and beautiful queen of ancient Egypt was said to have bathed in rose water, while Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra tells of her ships being scented with rose water, ’the very winds were lovesick’. The Romans practically drank it as a cure for numerous ailments, and Michelangelo supposedly drank it every day with his tea. 

However, for Simone her pink creation tells a far more poignant story about femininity and her journey as a single mother and entrepreneur in what she describes as being very much a ‘man’s world’. 

The rise in female entrepreneurs is a wave which she was very much at the forefront of, and she stands today as an inspiration not only to women everywhere but also to her two daughters who have supported her throughout it all. It is her view that in this World and in Africa, a girl must be entrepreneurial in all that they do, and it is her goal to leave as much of a legacy with her children through her journey as with her end success. 

Simone continues to channel her own advice in the hope that one day she will be able to simply ‘climb mountains and explore’ - ‘work hard, stay real, create partnerships, believe and always be authentic and true. 

Listen to Simone's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo

James Campbell has spent over thirty-five years in the diamond industry in a variety of leadership roles both in majors and juniors. He is currently Managing Director of Botswana Diamonds plc (‘BOD’), a London AIM and Botswana listed diamond development company. 

He is also a Non-Executive Director of Shefa Gems, an Israeli based precious stones development company listed on the main board of the London Stock Exchange. His immediate past role for over five years was Chief Executive Officer and President of Rockwell Diamonds Inc (‘RDI’) a diamond producer listed on the main boards of the Toronto and Johannesburg Stock Exchanges.

Prior roles include Vice President - New Business for Lucara Diamond Corp (‘LUC’), after it acquired African Diamonds plc (‘AFD’), where he was Managing Director for four years. He was also Executive Deputy Chairman of West African Diamonds plc (‘WAD’) and for four years a Non-Executive Director of Stellar Diamonds plc (‘STEL’) following its reverse takeover by WAD. 

During James’ tenure with AFD and WAD, he was also instrumental in resuscitating Zambezi Gold plc, which merged with Arc Mining & Investment SA to form Swala Resources plc (‘Swala’). He served on these companies’ boards until Swala was acquired by Concordia Resources Inc (‘CCN’).

Preceding this, James was with De Beers for over twenty years, culminating in being General Manager responsible for advanced exploration and resource delivery in the Global Mining and Exploration group. 

During his career with De Beers he also led several diamond exploration and evaluation programmes and small-scale mine development as well as playing key roles in corporate and strategic management and being Nicky Oppenheimer's Personal Assistant. 

James holds a degree in Mining & Exploration Geology from the Royal School of Mines (Imperial College, London University) and an MBA with distinction from Durham University. 

James is a Fellow of the Institute of Mining, Metallurgy & Materials, a Fellow of the South African Institute of Mining & Metallurgy, Chartered Engineer (UK), Chartered Scientist (UK), a member of the Geological Society of South Africa, a Professional Natural Scientist (RSA) and a Fellow of the Institute of Directors of South Africa. 

As part of James’ social commitment to South Africa he serves as Chairman and founding director of the leadership development Non-Profit Organisation (‘NPO’) Common Purpose SA, which celebrated its twentieth anniversary in 2020. Previously he was a director and Trustee of the Joburg Ballet for almost fifteen years. James is also a Licensed Lay Minister in the Anglican Church of South Africa and an accomplished Ballroom and Latin American dancer. James lives in Irene, Gauteng with his wife, who is a ballet and ballroom dancing teacher.

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I am a medical doctor-General Practitioner in private practice in Ballito, North Coast of KZN. 

I am a mom to a pre-teen daughter Taylor, an Ex-Military Captain, a fitness athlete and an avid tennis player. My parents were hard working and passionate educators in the community I grew up in and as a family we valued education and sport for as long as I can remember. 

I was accepted into the UKZN Nelson R Mandela School of Medicine and started my undergraduate medical studies in 2000. I then qualified with an MbCHB degree in 2006 and went on to do my 2 year Internship training at King Edward VIII Hospital in Durban. 

Thereafter, I was offered a Community Service post with the South African National Defence Force-Area Military Health Unit KZN. 

After completing a year of community service I then went into permanent force uniform as a military Captain for about 3 years. During that time as a permanent force member I completed a number of military courses including : 

Combat Casualty Care Course

The Law of Armed Conflict

Communicable Disease Outbreak Management 

Chemical Warfare 

I was also involved in the Military support Operations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup and received commendation for my involvement therein. 

My military career concluded in 2012 after the birth of my daughter, and I then started my career in Private general practice taking up an assistant position for a very well established GP Practice in Durban South Group Family Practice. 

After gaining much experience there, I then relocated to Ballito on the KZN North Coast in the latter part of 2015  and joined the BALLITO medical Centre where I worked for 2 years. 

I was then really privileged enough to open my own private General practice in BALLITO in 2017 where I continue to work and fulfill what I believe is my calling and passion. Ballito is now my home as well and the place where I continue to raise my beautiful daughter. 

I competed in several Fitness Competitions between 2013 and 2015 and over the last 2 years I have discovered an absolute love for tennis and I play regularly with the help of a professional coach. 

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Zanele has over 30years Brand Marketing experience in FMCG, Retail Industry and Telecommunications.  In April 2018, she joined Absa CIB as Head of Marketing a role which she held until the recent role as Head of Marketing: Absa Regional Operations CIB.

Her career started at Unilever in 1991 and she has worked for Tiger Brands, National Brands, now AVI, Brandhouse, Diageo PLC, Pick n Pay Retailers and Smile Communications. 

Through her career, she has had the opportunity to work in different markets on the continent and abroad. Her areas of responsibility have been brand strategy, communication and implementing these strategies in the broader trade. 

A fundamental aspect of her roles have been the development and nurturing of mutually beneficial relationships across a network of stakeholders locally and globally, in addition to training, mentoring and coaching team managers on technical marketing skills and commercialization of brand plans. 

After working for Diageo PLC, she took a sabbatical to recalibrate and re-imagine her next steps, a decision she feels was the right thing to do and that came at the right time.

She has also owned her own Marketing Consultancy, Kuyavuswana PTY LTD Marketing , and through her association with 2Connect worked with the likes of the then Barclays Group, Game, and Eskom. 

She is eager to use her experience, locally and globally and across the continent, to help businesses build strong marketing teams who use insights to develop brand strategies and plans and execute these with impact

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The Director: Strategy and Planning, Mlungisi Cele, of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), has been appointed the acting Chief Executive Officer of the National Advisory Council on Innovation (NACI).

NACI, an entity of the DST, is tasked with advising the Minister of Science and Technology and, through the Minister, the Cabinet, on the role and contribution of innovation (including science and technology) in promoting and achieving national objectives. 

These national objectives include the improvement of the quality of life of South Africans, the promotion of sustainable economic growth and international competitiveness.

NACI's mandate stems from the White Paper on Science and Technology 1996.Chapter 5 of the White Paper directs NACI to play an advisory rather than an operational role in respect of stimulating the National System of Innovation.

Dr Cele holds a PhD in Higher Education Studies from the University of the Western Cape and an MPhil in Science and Technology Studies from Stellenbosch University. He joined the DST in 2005 and has been involved in various assignments related to science, technology and innovationpolicy, human capital development and strategy and planning and reviews. 

Prior to joining the DST, he worked as a researcher at the former University of Durban-Westville and the University of the Western Cape, where he conducted research and published in areas of higher education policy, science and technology policy, youth and student politics. 

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Masenyane has over 25 years’ experience in a corporate environment at senior management level. 

She has extensive experience in working in the private sector as well as government in many varied roles including market research, stakeholder relations, small business development and for the last 10 years, in Human Resources. 

Masenyane had an opportunity to spend three years abroad as a representative of the SARS (SA Revenue Service) in the UK where building alliances with UK and European tax and customs authorities were among her mandate. 

She has an acute appreciation of business imperatives, is highly organised, is a people’s person and has dealt with issues and concepts of a strategic business and national importance. 

Masenyane is a non-conventional HR generalist Executive who is often described as “bringing a fresh perspective to HR”.

Masenyane is also a mother of two boys, loves connecting people, a lover of life, an aspiring academic, chosen generation and a change agent. 

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Trevor has close to 20 years corporate experience. His background in Industrial Engineering has afforded him the ability to have worked across multiple industries helping corporates start-up new divisions, optimize existing operations and develop operational and go-to-market strategies for niche products/services.

He is also the co-founder and current CEO of ProcureSense, an award-winning disruptive Procurement Advisory firm that uses data analytics and other procurement technologies to help their clients achieve and sustain the following results:

• Procurement Cost Savings ~R1bn saved to date

• BBBEE Compliance Points ~40% increase in BEE scorecards to date

• Operational Efficiency ~20% procurement operational efficiency achieved to date

• SMME Impact ~Over R5bn worth of contracts awarded to small businesses across SA achieved to date

He started his career as an OptimisationAnalyst & Process Engineer at Trellidor & Airports Company South Africarespectively. He then moved to Clover where he was in Central Strategic Operations specialising in warehousing & logistics optimisation. 

Trevor has also worked in the financial services sector for FirstRand Group Procurement where he was involved in developing & implementing appropriate best practices in the transactional procurement space.

At Edge Growth, Trevor has spent time in the post-investment side of the FNB Vumela ED Fund gaining first-hand experience of the “growing pains” that start-up businesses face on a daily basis. 

This has allowed him to work hand in hand with start-ups to strategize, professionalize & grow their businesses effectively. He also spearheaded Edge’s Advisory & business development division tasked with designing & selling new products to the corporate sector.

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With more than 25 years in the tourism and visitor attractions management industry in South Africa, I have gained insight into the changing nature of tourism and visitor attractions and their role in the driver of job creation and GDP in South Africa. 

I have leveraged my strategic foresight skills on numerous boards and senior executive roles.  My strength is guiding management teams, boards and stakeholders to find agile and innovative solutions for complex problems. 

I have led and implemented a wide range of interventions at visitor attractions over the past 25 years always ensuring that outcomes are on time, in budget, sustainable and future proof. 

I am a leader in the art and science of all aspects related to the management of visitor attractions.

Projects to date have included:

• Executive talks and research on industry relevant megatrends.
• Facilitating executive futures thinking workshops for local municipalities and tourism bodies.
• V&A Waterfront visitor attraction audit. Researching the quality, quantity and range of visitor attractions ( including museums) at the Waterfront, and assessing the gaps from a visitor experience viewpoint. 
• Research on megatrends in the visitor attraction industry.
• Review visitor attraction admissions and pricing policy with a view to understanding how to increase future spend at admissions and on site for a local Cape Town client.

Board Positions

Attractions Africa Founder and Chair  2014 – Present

IAAPA EMEA Sub-Committee Member Appointed May 2018

Groot Constantia Trust    Vice-Chair and Board Member 2011 - Present

Cape Wheel Director 2016- March 2018

Future Cape Town Advisory Board   2015 - 2017

Cape Town Tourism Chairperson  2012 – 2014

  Board Member 2008 – 2014

Marketing Manager

Table Mountain Aerial Cableway

1998 - 2003

Additional Information

· Member of the Association of Professional Futurists

· Editorial Board: Journal of Tourism Futures (appointed May 2018)

· Advisory Board: Happy Snappy Photo Company

· Committee Member: International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (IAAPA): Europe, Middle East and Africa. (appointed May 2018)

· Global Scanning Network Researcher in ‘Consumer and Retail Unit’ for Copenhagen Futures Institute (2018)

· Research Associate: Institute of Futures Research, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa (2015- present)

· Served on the World Design Capital board selection committee (2012) 

· Contributing Author: Managing Tourism in SA, Chapter: Managing Visitor Attractions (2006 -2015)

· CEO Magazine’s Most Influential Woman in Business & Government (Tourism) (2010)

· Institute of Marketing Managers (IMM) Award in recognition of Marketing Excellence (2001)

· Speaker: International Association of Amusement Parks and Attractions (Gothenburg, 2015); “Attractions in Emerging Markets: Africa”

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Ziaad Suleman is a Director and the Chief Operating Officer (COO) for IBM South Africa. He joined IBM 10 years ago and has been integral to the growth and development of the IBM Business in the region.

In his role as COO, Ziaad is responsible together with the Country General Manager for overall Business Operations. Amongst other focus areas, Ziaad is responsible for Strategy; Transformation; Operations; Special Projects and Investments (including Ecosystem Development, the establishment of a Local Delivery Centre & Digital Lab, and aligning IBM’s Business with IBM’s investments).

Ziaad serves on the IBM South Africa Board of Directors, EXCO as well as important governing councils such as being the Chairperson of the Social & Ethics Committee and Disciplinary Board.

Prior to his role as COO, Ziaad was the Head Lawyer for IBM in Sub Saharan Africa - a territory which is challenging, both in geography and complexity. 

Over and above IBM, Ziaad serves as the non – executive chairperson of Qode and is a non – executive director of Charities Aid Foundation Southern Africa.

Ziaad schooled at St. Johns College, Johannesburg and earned both his undergraduate and postgraduate honours degrees in Law with distinction from University of Natal. He also obtained an MDP Business Management degree with distinction from GIBS Business School. 

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Ian Russell is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BCX, Africa’s premier end-to-end digital solutions partner. 

He joined BCX on 1 May 2017 from Telkom where he was accountable for the delivery of a wide range of Group Services to Telkom's business units including Procurement, Supply Chain, corporate real estate, security, Corporate Social responsibility activities and Human Resources.  

He has served as Head of Procurement for Johannesburg-based South African Breweries (SAB) Ltd and has held several senior back office roles across Barclays, including setting up and running the Smart sourcing team, which was entirely focused on transformational outsourcing. 

His previous career highlights include filling positions as Group Integration Director, Chief Administration Officer and Chief Procurement Officer for the Absa Group. 

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply and has been internationally recognised for leading and developing procurement best practices.

TERTIARY ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS: 

BSc (Econ), MBA, FCIPS  

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Professional Experience​

• Tshidi is a passionate HR professional with 22+ human resources experience working across the African continent.​
• Her career began as a CCMA Commissioner during early 2000.​
• After her tenure at the CCMA, Tshidi spent time at National Treasury as the Deputy Director: Labour Relations before moving to Sasol, where she served in a variety of senior roles. She credits her ten-year journey at Sasol for some of the most impactful sharpening of all her HR skills as well as some of her most rewarding career moments. ​
• Her tenure at Sasol also included a four-year international assignment to Nigeria serving as the Country HR Head. After Sasol, Tshidi joined Ecolab as the HR Director; Sub-Saharan Africa. Her last role before joining Weir Minerals was at British American Tobacco as the Head: Human Resources.​
• She is also a part-time executive coach, and she works across various business schools across South Africa where she coaches mostly on executive developmental programmes.​

​

“Looking back at my career, I appreciate each and every role I said yes to, because all these different roles have helped me to become a fully-fledged and well-rounded HR leader I am today.”​

​

​

Qualifications​

• Bachelor of Administration (Industrial Psychology) – University of Limpopo ​
• Advanced Diploma (Labour Law) – University of Johannesburg​
• Masters of Management (Business and Executive Coaching) – University of Witwatersrand (Wits Business School)​
• Post Graduate Diploma (Business Studies) – University of Pretoria (GIBS)​
• Doctoral Student (current studies) – University of Pretoria (GIBS)​

​

Personal Statement ​

• I have a deep-rooted desire to be the best version of myself….and I endeavour not to compromise important aspects of my life. ​
• So, I am committed to an integrated life as a loving wife, supportive mother, devoted student, whilst at the same time being an unapologetic and ambitious career-driven woman. 

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Zoaib Hoosen is the Microsoft South Africa Managing Director. Before joining Microsoft, Hoosen spent about 21 years at IBM, where he started as an IT graduate in 1989 and rose through the ranks to hold several leadership positions.

In his final assignment at IBM, he headed up the company’s Middle East and Africa Public Sector Business.

Hoosen joined Microsoft South Africa in 2010 as the Enterprise and Partner Group Director, before being promoted to the role of Chief Operations Officer in 2013.

Hoosen currently holds a BSc and an MBA Degree from the University of Durban-Westville and Open University in the United Kingdom.

 Listen to Zoaib's Interview on Soundcloud, Youtube and Vimeo 

Simon Carpenter has 36 years of wide-ranging experience in the IT sector. The last 24 years have been with market-leader SAP’s African business where he has held several leadership positions. 

During his career with SAP Simon is proud to have worked with many of Africa's best organisations helping them to understand how SAP solutions can contribute to their growth and ongoing success. He is a passionate advocate for leveraging information to create a better Africa for all and conscious of the fact that Africa poses some unique challenges that require a nuanced approach to technology adoption.

For over 2 decades Simon has contributed to SAP’s positive impact on Africa’s economies and the company’s growth across Africa to over 1,800 customers by, inter alia:

Leading SAP Africa’s Presales and Industry specialist teams and their essential role in showcasing to customers how SAP solutions create value.

Leading SAP Africa’s Marketing team (including at that time Customer Care, Partner Management and the Africa SAP User Group)

Launching new SAP solutions into the African Market (SAP BW, SAP CRM, SAP APO, SAP SCM, NetWeaver and SAP Financial Services Network)

Founding and incubating services and concepts such as Customer Engagement Lifecycle, Value Engineering, Business Transformation Services and the SAP Reseller Channel.

Leading the Business Analytics Sales team where revenues grew by >25 % over 2 years.

Leading the SAP Premier Customer Network where revenues grew by 298% over 2 years

Simon is currently Chief Technology Advisor SAP Africa, responsible for:

Leading SAP Africa’s Digital Transformation initiatives with a focus on Business Innovation and Thought leadership; providing direction to SAP’s customers and partners on emerging business and technology issues such as OT/IT Convergence, Big Data, Business Network Transformation, Mobility, Cloud Computing, Business Process Management and how these are encompassed in SAP’s Intelligent Enterprise Framework

Africa-wide evangelism of SAP’s strategy for helping the World to Run Simpler by Digitally Transforming.

Prior to SAP, Simon worked predominantly in operations and logistics solutions ranging from on-board computing in transport to large-scale enterprise systems. He has broad experience having worked in sales, marketing, support management, project management, and consulting and systems development. He thus has good insight into the soft issues (such as change management) that must be addressed for any technological initiative to be successful. 

Simon speaks at a numerous local and international conferences and Universities / Business Schools on a wide range of topics and is a previous award winner at the SAPICS conference.

 Listen to Simon's Interview on Soundcloud,  Youtube and Vimeo 

Consistent and Brave approach to Leadership. Resilient go-getter; Reflective & Critical thinker, Focused on driving solutions with a natural infectious energy.

20 + years Liquor Industry experience, I have a deep knowledge and understanding of entire value chain - Marketing Strategy and Development, procurement, production planning, distribution; Export Logistics, demand planning and project management principles and disciplines.

I’m passionate about problem solving, especially when it comes to the finer detail; I thrive and actively drive improvement and view change as the gatekeeper of opportunities for future growth.

10 years Marketing Management experience: Brand Strategy and Communication development with thorough advertising competencies in TTL development, production and media planning. Responsible for New product development (intrinsic and packaging) launch communication development and implementation to trade. Solid understanding of Consumer segmentation and importance of Consumer needs. Accountable for full brand P&L management.

Brand portfolio included a range of globally and locally recognized Cider & Wine Brands: Bernini Sparkling Grape, RE-launch of Esprit, Hunter's Cider, Savanna Premium Cider, Hunters Edge, Durbanville Hills wines, Sedgwick’s Old Brown (Sherry), Autumn Harvest Crackling, Paarl Perle, Obikwa single varietal, Basic Wine portfolio and Export Buyers Own Brands range.

Global destinations travelled during Career for consumer/geographical insights: South Korea Seoul, Canada All, Germany Frankfurt, UK London, Sweden Stockholm, Nigeria, South Africa all. 

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Vukosi Sambo is an experienced executive and renowned key note speaker, with extensive

experience in healthcare, financial services, FMCG and Market Research. He is an expert specialist in

data science, AI & ML, digital strategies, cloud computing & security, risk management and actuarial,

business architecture, and operations management. 

He currently serves as the Head of Data

Solutions at Medscheme (Afrocentric Group), a leading South African health insurer with almost 4

million lives under administration. 

He also serves as an Advisory Board Member of Hottopics, a

global data and technology events platform with over 15 000 C-level subscribers, A Chartered

Advisor and Global Advisory Board Member of VigiTrust- bring together hundreds of leaders on

innovation, regulation, standards and research in technology and information security.

Prior to Joining Medscheme, Vukosi served as Chief Data Officer at Kaelo, held senior roles in

Discovery Bank, SAB, Nielsen and Discovery Health. 

He has won several awards including 2020

Global Top 100 Data Visionary. His background includes studies in Bachelor of Economic Science,

Post Graduate Diploma in Artificial Intelligence from University of Texas (USA), Post Graduate

Diploma in Cloud Computing (University of Texas, USA), Post Graduate Program in Risk Management

(Unisa), Post Graduate Diploma in Business Administration (Unisa), Post Graduate Executive

education in Digital Strategies for Business (Columbia Business School, USA), Certificate in Lean Six

Sigma (BMGI University, USA) and Certificate in Advanced Forecasting for Data Analysts. Vukosi is

also certified in Machine Learning, Big Data and Cybersecurity. 

He is currently studying towards an

MBA with Unisa SBL. He is an international conference speaker (+keynote) and contributing writer

on data analytics and technology leadership forums. He is a comrade marathon, two oceans

marathon and Soweto marathon finisher.

Listen to Vukosi' Iterview on Vimeo, YouTuibe and SoundCloud 

Sbusisiwe “Sbu” is a Banker turned Social Entrepreneur and Rural Child Education Activist, a 2010 Gauteng Business Women Association Business Achiever Award Winner, a 2015 Vital Voices GAP Alum, a  VV100 Fellow, a 2016 Eisenhower Fellow, an Aspen Institute 2017 Socrates Fellow and a TedX Speaker.  

After completing her B Com (Statistical Science) degree at the University of Cape Town, she was recruited by Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Bank for their inaugural Class of 97 Graduate Programme. 

Her Banking career spanned over 15 years; at Standard Bank (including extensive experience in Africa), African Bank, Nedbank’s Motor Finance Corporation, Absa Wealth and Barclays Wealth International. 

She quit her International Banking career in 2011, to launch Imbeleko Foundation to honor the legacy of her late twin sister who died tragically from a brain tumor. 

Imbeleko Foundation empowers vulnerable rural children and youth in rural Valley of 1000 Hills in South Africa; to reach their full potential and become society-contributing and self-sufficient citizens - through Afterschool STEM Programmes; Boarding School and University Scholarships; Wellness, Character and Leadership Development, incl. Mentoring, Technical and Practical Skills Development. 

Imbeleko has provided boarding school and university scholarships to 100s of talented children and supports +/-1000 through their AfterSchool Programme.

She also founded Imbeleko Marketplace a for-profit social enterprise that host Hiking Tours, Traditional Zulu Food Experiences and a Beaded Art Studio - to ensure the Foundation’s long-term self-sufficiency, boost skills training, and provide youth employment opportunities.

Sbu is a Global Speaker who gives talks and lectures about her work internationally; and gives annual lectures at Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis and University of Texas at El Paso.

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After receiving his BProc degree from the University of the Western Cape and completing a Post Graduate Certificate in Legal Practice from the University of Cape Town, Rurik was admitted as an Attorney of the High Court of South Africa.

Rurik’s passion and expertise in the legal field lies predominantly in business – and commercial law with a specialisation in local and international corporate and company law as well as being a thought leader in the area of Organisational GRC. 

In this regard he has graduated cum laude in Legal Masters in Transnational Commercial Practice (LL.M.) through the Lazarski University (ranked the best private University in Poland) in conjunction with the Eötvös Loránd University (one of the most prestigious higher education institutions in Hungary), the Boston University (a top Law School in the United States of America), and the Centre for International Legal Studies (based in Austria).

Rurik is internationally certified as a Korn Ferry International – Lominger Choices™ feedback expert, which allows him to offer in-depth developmental feedback and guidance to business leaders as well as

boards of directors.

Rurik had the pleasure of serving on the Independent Regulatory Board of Auditors’ (IRBA) Investigating Committee (INVESCO) Board from 2015 to 2018

In addition to this, Rurik has been internationally certified as a Co-Leader of The ManKind Project®, through which he has travelled all over the world offering talks, trainings, and mentorships in personal and leadership development

Being a certified Alt-X Director of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) allows Rurik to take on Directorships at companies, where his main goal is always to facilitate greater organisational alignment and growth. View Rurik's full profile here

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Colin Singarum (born 08 February 1970) in Durban always wanted to follow in the footsteps of his father and become teacher. He studied Fine Art and passed with distinctions in sculpture, drawing and painting without using a drop of paint, stone or pencil.  This pushing of boundaries and passion for innovative solutions set the tone for his career growth.

He never got to teach but is now a Business Development & Marketing Executive with 20 years of experience in the Aerospace & Defence industry, focusing on corporate strategy, marketing, branding, innovation and communications

He is best known for being a creative thinker who can create  campaigns with innovative avenues to market and drive business. 

Colin began his career at South African Airways as a Flight attendant Trainer, to Marketing & Communications Manager in 1995. He won the CEO Innovation prize three times and received to bursaries including one to attend the Disney University in Orlando. He held several positions at SAA until moving to Denel Aviation as Marketing Manager in 2007. 

He eventually moved up to the Denel Group as Senior Executive Business Development in 2012. Being involved with the Airbus A400M programme to the marketing campaign of the Rooivalk Attack helicopter give Colin massive exposure to global brands and high profile leaders. Denel also awarded Colin with a bursary to study an MBA at Cumbria University in the UK.

From 2012 to 2016, Colin launched numerous innovative campaigns from getting Denel in a Hollywood blockbuster for marketing exposure to creating the first STEM park using real Defence equipment from helicopters, fighter jets and tanks. This was to create awareness amongst the youth towards careers in the aerospace and defence sector. 

In 2017, Colin moved to the Paramount Group as Business Development Executive focusing on Airborne Systems effectively reinforcing brand, developing networks and capturing the market. 

Colin considers Business development a growing challenge especially in the defence sector and therefore he always echoes that innovative thinking, extreme networking and collaborative partnerships are going to be the differentiating factors to success. 

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Herman commenced his Career in the early 80’s in the manufacturing sector in Johannesburg and moved to Consulting and Advisory work in 1994 at Monitor Consulting before taking a senior leadership role as Managing Director in the Siemens Company in 1996 to lead a large scale turn-around of the Industry Division responsible for Sub-Saharan Africa (13 countries) between 1996 and 2000. 

During this time he was pivotal in restructuring divisions of over 1000 technical staff involved in product sales and distribution, large project execution and after sales services and thereby delivering double digit growth in revenues and profits and rescuing the business from closure. The business continues to operate successfully over 15 years after his departure.

He then pivoted to the emerging world of e-commerce and joined Standard Bank in 2000 as the Director of Online Services and e-commerce. He lead the banks foray into Internet Banking deploying one of the first platforms in the world, one of the world’s first national rollouts of smart cards and continued to pioneer Fintech innovations with mobile banking JV’s in 2003 (one of the first globally) and operated one of the first African Fintech business incubators for the Group for 5 years from 2007 until 2012. 

This entity developed a number of very successful businesses in the space of money transfer, value added mobile services and digitalisation of legacy processes. One business went on to record business volumes of 2 Billion Dollars in transactional flow and is the number two player in its field in Africa. He also joined the board of Eccentric Switch, a payments processor that he was instrumental in investing in for the bank. 

In 2012 Herman moved into the telecommunications space in a more dedicated manner firstly with a role at Vodafone as Managing Executive of mobile Commerce at the sub Saharan subsidiary where he successfully launched and managed both a short term insurance business and a life assurance business reaching a Billion Rands in revenue within 4 years of start-up. 

He also set up a subsidiary to launch the largest mobile vouchering app in the region which resulted in two million downloads in a year and was the fastest growing app for that year. He then moved to MTN in 2015 where he served in the role of Group Chief Digital Officer. This role carried a Profit and Loss responsibility of over a Billion Dollars and thanks to new innovation and change programmes is growing at close to 2X per annum in Local Currency. 

The role includes four pillars in e-commerce / mobile advertising, mobile financial services, media and digital lifestyle products and services. He currently serves as the Group Executive for Innovation Strategy leading the Groups Digital approach into new business areas by focusing on Ideation, Incubation, acceleration and M and A. 

This broad portfolio of adjacent businesses has necessitated extensive travel and serving on 7 boards as well as serving in advisory capacities in multiple industry level initiatives. 

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· 39 Years of ICT Experience.

· Certified ICT Professional (SA)

· Chartered CIO Certification

· Chairperson of Chartered CIO Council reporting to Patron Minister Stella Ndabeni-Abrahams

· Advisor to ICT Steering Committee, Minister and DG of Department of Employment and Labour

· 2006 African ICT Achievers Award for Enabling ICT in Public Sector

· Advisor to many CIOs in both public and private sector institutions (Government, Banking, Retail)

· Group Head ICT Operations at City of Johannesburg

· Contributed to the first E-Government Framework with the DG of Communications Andile Ncaba

· Advisor for E-Government for SADC and ECOWAS states (Lesotho, Namibia, Uganda, Ghana, DRC & Sudan)

· Formed part of the Presidential Advisory Committee for HIV/AIDS reporting directly to President Thabo Mbeki

· Interim Chairperson ICT Steering Committee for Department of Justice

· Participation of the IDP Review Process for Nelson Mandela Bay Metro as an Independent Advisor

· Facilitated ICT in Government Roadshows (IDC, Forge Ahead, SITA, Gartner, ITWeb)

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Sam Tsima is the CEO and Executive Coach at COMETSA GoC International (Pty) Ltd, a human capital, management and leadership development consulting company, specializing in coaching, mentoring, advisory, facilitation, training, and business networking. 

He is a member and Professional Certified Coach (PCC) at the International Coaching Federation (ICF), currently working toward his Master Certified Coach (MCC) credentials and studying toward Masters in Executive Coaching Degree at Ashridge Executive Education (Hult International Business School, London, UK), having completed the first year (Postgraduate Diploma in Executive Coaching) in 2020.

Sam has been coaching professionally since 2010, and to date (15th June 2021) has conducted 1237 coaching sessions, mostly of two hours each, covering 2327.30 hours of face to face and/or virtual coaching. He is one of the executive coaches retained by the Johannesburg Business School to coach their MBA students. He is currently coaching five MBA students in the current cohort. 

He holds the following qualifications: Bachelor of Commerce (Transport Economics and Business Management) - University of South Africa; Postgraduate Diploma in Practitioner Coaching (The Coaching Centre, TCC); Diplom Deutsch (Diploma in German Language) - Studiengemeinschaft Darmstadt (Germany); Industriekaufmannn (IHK, Germany); Sport Management (Allenby College); Sport Psychology (Intec College); Youth Development Through Football (YDF; GIZ); and Basic Soccer Coaching Certificate (South African Football Association, SAFA).

Sam is serving on the Senior Council of the Southern Africa German Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He has completed the following business training with the following organizations in Germany: German Language Certificate & Management Training at the Carl Duisberg Gesellschaft e.v. (Cologne), Air Cargo Agency Management at Kuehne & Nagel Luftfracht GmbH (Frankfurt International Airport); Air Cargo Handling & Management at Lufthansa German Airlines (Frankfurt International Airport); and Stammhauslehre (Corporate Business Training) at Siemens AG (Cologne).

His extensive professional experience includes, establishment of the Dr Richard Maponya Institute for Skills & Entrepreneurship Development NPC as a Project Consultant; B-BBEE Project Manager at GIBS (University of Pretoria); HR Director Sub-Sahara Africa at Motorola SA (Pty) Ltd; Manager Centre of Expertise for Diversity Management & Inclusion at Sasol Ltd; Group Consultant Employment Equity at Absa Bank; Head of Commercial Training at Siemens Ltd; Commercial Administrator at Siemens Ltd; Johannesburg Branch Manager at Black Management Forum (BMF) on secondment from Siemens Ltd; Air Cargo Break-Bulk Administrator at Kuehne & Nagel Airfreight (Pty) Ltd.

SPECIAL PROJECT: Sam is currently transitioning all COMETSA offerings to a new hybrid platform made of face to face and virtual online platforms. The virtual online platforms are grouped under COMETSA Global Online Channels, a combination of online radio station, podcasting, video streaming and social media platforms. The virtual online Executive Coaching is delivered via video streaming channel called COMETSA Television Network (CTN). He currently runs a weekly Saturday show called Executive Coaches Network (ECN) - Live Weekly! at COMETSA Radio Podcast Live, www.CometsaRadioPodcast.Com , with fellow executive coaches. 

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Remembering her roots and having wings, is a saying Opila lives by. Roots, to remember where she is from- her beginnings and values. Wings as a symbol and reminder that there is no limit to what you can achieve and become. 

Opila has found purpose in what she describes as a career that balances both the value of people and business whilst allowing her to give back to society and make a difference through her work.

With just under twenty years progressive human capital experience, Opila is a seasoned HR professional. She has held various positions across diverse companies and industries amongst them Standard Bank and Zurich Insurance. 

Currently, at Novartis, Opila is responsible for leading the Country People and Transformation agenda.

She is an accredited change manager, holds a Bachelors degree as well as an MBA from Wits Business School.  Her dissertation focused on diversity and inclusion; a study to understand the connection between personality and perceptions of inclusion in the workplace.

Opila is married with two daughters and enjoys reading and travelling. 

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A seasoned youth development and employment specialist with a deep belief is Africa’s potential. With just under two decades of experience in the field of youth development, May, as she is known, has worked tirelessly to promote sustainable employment opportunities for youth across several sectors.

In July 2020, May, who boasts both an HR and a business qualification, was appointed as the Head of Youth Development and Employment at Standard Bank. In this role she is responsible for building a pipeline of core, critical, scarce and future skills for the Bank

She is married to Zishaan and they have 3 children, two daughters, Zahrah and Aaliyah and a son, Eyad.

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Currently responsible for helping organisations work on the people side of strategy, this entails engaging with clients in developing customised journeys that help shift the mindsets and behaviours of their employees towards what is required to execute a strategy. 

The role entails a combination of business development, strategic account management, learning design and development, strategy formulation and consultation. 

In this role I have focused on a number of specialised practice areas where it is a prerequisite that to have an in depth understanding of the point of view around the practice area. 

I have worked across four practice areas namely, Innovation, Strategy Alignment and Business Acumen, Sales Transformation and Digital. I am responsible for management of the Sales and Marketing Practice for Africa which includes P&L ownership, growth of practice revenue across multiple accounts and contributing to thought leadership and research. I double hat as a subject matter expert for the East Area of our North America business, in this role I support account managers when working with sales and marketing initiatives and transformations. 

Achievements: In this role I have had the privilege of helping clients across various industries to shift mindsets, build new capabilities, introduce new go to market strategies, below is a list of achievements: 

● Successfully landed and managed the largest deal the business has seen in the region with a total value of +/- R30 million spanning across four levels of leadership in the FMCG industry | Project spans over 3-year period and spans across entire corporation 

● Successfully managed the roll out of an onboarding program for a financial services firm across entire retail chain | Project spanned over 2 years and involved a number of stakeholders both internal and external to the financial services firm | Projec t totalled +/- R3,8 million and growing 

● Successfully managed a sales transformation for one of the largest travel management companies in South Africa | Project spanned across top 70 employees ranging from the board of directors, business development and support functions | Project totalled +/ - R 1,0 million and growing 

● Successfully managed two projects for a financial services firm with a focus on go to market strategies in Africa | Projects spanned across 14 countries in Africa and is ongoing | Project to date totalled +/- R2,6 million and growing 

● Successfully played a role in a project team that assisted a financial services firm to shift the mindset and behaviours across middle management in the retail division | Project was awarded a prestigious Brandon Hall Award for best Leadership Development Project | Project is ongoing | Impact on the organisation is in the process of being measured 

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Seasoned financial services professional with an MA in International Trade and Investment Policy. 

Highly skilled in stakeholder relations, partnership management, marketing, public policy and resource mobilization. 

Passionate about socio-economic transformation, development, public-private partnerships and Africa! PhD candidate in Management with a research focus on the role of business in society. 

My lifelong mission is to curb poverty, inequality and unemployment. 

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Kumeshnee West is the Director of Executive Education at the University of Cape Town Graduate School of Business (UCT GSB) where she leads a passionate team to deliver excellence to clients attending short courses and customised courses. 

She works closely with clients, alumni, faculty, and the Business Development team, to develop relevant management and leadership courses that respond to the emerging needs of today's leaders, both locally and internationally. 

Her excellent relationship management skills have helped the school to secure 75% of return business year-on-year for the past six years.

Kumeshnee holds an MBA from the UCT GSB and is passionate about playing a role in ensuring that the school continues to deliver excellence to all its stakeholders. 

She is involved in several projects at the school and is a key spokesperson in the media on issues around women in leadership, leadership development and the future of work. She also plays a mentorship role to the student-led Women in Business Committee.

It is under her leadership that, in 2019, the UCT GSB was awarded a Gold Award by the European Foundation for Management Development, for a customised programme that was developed in partnership with Standard Bank. This is a first for an African Business School. 

 Also on her watch, the UCT GSB continues to be ranked in the Top FT100 Executive Education Custom Rankings (#1 in South Africa in 2020).

Prior to joining the UCT GSB, Kumeshnee worked in the Healthcare industry in a clinical and management capacity. 

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Dr Ntuthuko Bhengu is the founder of Alchemy Health Technologies (Pty) Ltd, a National Planning Commissioner (South Africa) and a director of companies. He was a panelist of the Health Market Inquiry which was set up by the Competition Commission to probe the private health sector holistically to determine factors that restrict, prevent or distort competition and underlie increases in private healthcare prices and expenditure. 

A Chartered Director (SA) with many years' experience, Dr Bhengu's past board experience includes terms as a board and advisory committee member of Nestle (SA) (Pty) Ltd, the SA Nuclear Energy Corporation (NECSA) and the Road Accident Fund. In 2017, he was elected to serve as a non-executive director of the Institute of Directors in South Africa and chaired the Certifications Committee of the board.

Dr Bhengu obtained the MB,ChB degree from Natal University and the Diploma in Anaesthetics from the College of Medicine of SA. His business management qualifications include MBA (Wales, Cardiff) and MPH Healthcare Management (Harvard) degrees. The Harvard degree gave him an in-depth understanding of global health policy and management of corporations in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, hospital and health insurance sectors. Dr Bhengu has operated as a clinician in South Africa and England and as a senior executive within the SA health care sector.

Dr Bhengu has participated as an invited speaker at the Africa Business Conferences for the Imperial College (UK, 2016) and Harvard Business Schools (USA, 2017). He also delivered a keynote address at the Africa Directors Programme offered by the Stellenbosch and INSEAD business schools (SA, 2017). In March 2018, Dr Bhengu was invited by the Harvard Global Health Institute to participate as a speaker at the London (UK) workshop on counterfeit and substandard medicines. The theme of the meeting was, "Medicines that Lie: A Deadly Public Health Crisis."

Dr Ntuthuko Bhengu is a Fellow of the Africa Leadership Initiative. 

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