SPEAKERS
SPEAKERS TO BE CONFIRMED
President Cyril Ramaphosa
Deputy President David Mabuza
Minister Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma
Minister Patricia De Lille
Minister Gwede Mantashe
Minister Barbara Creecy
Minister Khumbudzo Ntshavheni
Minister Enoch Godongwana
Minister Mondli Gungubele
Deputy Minister Pinky Kekana
Deputy Minister Noxolo Kiviet
President
African Development Bank
Dr Adesina is a globally renowned development economist and agricultural-development expert, with 30 years of international experience. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in agricultural economics from the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University), Nigeria, in 1981. He was the first student to obtain a First Class Honours in Agricultural Economics in the history of the University. He holds a master’s degree (1985) and a PhD in Agricultural Economics (1988) from Purdue University, USA, where he won the Outstanding PhD thesis award for that year. He won the prestigious Rockefeller Foundation Social Science Fellowship in 1988, which launched him into his international career.
Chief Executive Officer: Openserve
Chief Information Officer: Telkom Group
Althon Beukes was appointed as Chief Executive Officer Openserve 1 April 2020 in addition to his role as the Group Chief Information Officer for Telkom Group. Althon is a proven technology, digital and commercial leader with vast experience across transformational roles within Telkom Group.
At Openserve, Althon is leading the organisational transformation journey that is adopting its new operating model which pivots around creating a differential experience on Openserve’s network. Althon is focused on enhancing client and customer experience across Openserve’s current and future market segments and is driving product innovation across its connectivity propositions that further strengths Openserve leadership across fibre and next generation connectivity solutions.
An innovator with a deep grasp of technology and change management principles, Althon is focused on creating a journey that is underpinned by technology and digital enablement that allows for a sustainable transformation. With prudent investments across its technology portfolio, Althon is positioning Openserve to be the principle infrastructure provider that connects everything, consumers, smart cities, 5G cells and business thus enabling it to cater for today’s needs as well as for future 5G adoption and consumption requirements.
Althon has held various leadership roles including leading the establishment of Cybernest, Telkom information technology arm. As its Managing Director, he was instrumental in the acquisition of BCX and led its integration into Telkom Group, later assuming the role as Chief Operations Officer at BCX. Prior to his current roles, Althon also had a brief stint as the Chief Commercial officer at Openserve.
Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy
African Union Commission
Dr Amani Abou-Zeid was elected AU Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy in 2017. Immediately before this she was the Director of the Africa Natural Resource Center and held other senior positions at AfDB. She has also worked with other international organizations on infrastructure and energy. She is a member of the Broadband Commission and the Stewardship Board for System Initiative on Shaping the Future of Energy. She has a PhD in Social and Economic Development from the University of Manchester, a Master’s in Public Administration from the Kennedy School, Harvard University, an MBA in project management from the Universite Senghor, and a BA Arts from the Sorbonne, and a BSc in electrical engineering from Cairo University.
Chairman and Founder
Convergence Partners
Andile Ngcaba is chairman, founder, and majority shareholder of investment group Convergence Partners. Through Convergence Partners, Andile is also involved in significant new communications infrastructure projects across Africa including Seacom (the first undersea fibre optic cable system serving Africa’s East Coast) which was ready for service on 23 July 2009, the first private sector satellite in Africa (Intelsat New Dawn) which was launched on 22 April 2011 and a recently announced new joint venture to bring high capacity, long-haul terrestrial fibre to South Africa (FibreCo). Andile was previously Director General of Communications in the first democratically elected government of South Africa in 1994. He left Government in 2003 to pursue a career in the private sector.
Minister of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment
Barbara Dallas Creecy is a South African politician and previous anti-apartheid activist. A member of the African National Congress, she is currently serving as Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries, and as a Member of the National Assembly of South Africa. She previously served as a Member of the Gauteng Provincial Legislature, having been elected in 1994. In 2004, she was named Gauteng MEC for Sports, Recreation, Arts and Culture. She served until 2009 when she was appointed MEC for Education. Newly elected premier David Makhura moved Creecy to the Gauteng Finance portfolio in 2014. In May 2019, Creecy was sworn in as a Member of Parliament. On 29 May 2019, President Cyril Ramaphosa named her the new Minister of Environment, Forestry and Fisheries. Creecy is a native of Johannesburg. She attended the University of the Witwatersrand and obtained an Honours degree in Political Science. Later she completed a master’s degree in Public Policy and Management with the University of London.
President of the board
Business Unity South Africa
Bonang Mohale has held several leadership positions in the private sector and has been lauded and recognised with several awards over the past 25 years. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Business Leadership South Africa, Chairman of Shell South Africa (Pty) Ltd, Chief Executive Officer of Drake & Scull FM SA (Pty) Ltd, Chief Executive of Sanlam Limited, Executive Vice President of SAA and Managing Director of Otis (Pty) Ltd, amongst others.
Managing Director
Banking Association of South Africa
Bongi Kunene is the managing Director of the Banking Association of South Africa. She assumed this position on March 16, 2020. Prior to that Bongi was the Pan Africa Head, Public Sector Banking for the Standard Bank Group. She had responsibility for strategic direction of the business in 15 African countries including South Africa. Her career has included a role as the Executive Director at the World Bank Group in Washington DC. In that capacity she served in the board representing South Africa, Nigeria, and Angola. She chaired the Audit Committee of the World Bank Group from November 2016 to October 2018. Bongi has served in the South African government in different capacities including 4 years in The Presidency first as Chief of Staff for the Deputy President and as the Deputy Director General responsible for economic policy coordination. She served as the Superintendent General heading the Gauteng Provincial Government’s Department of Finance and Economic Affairs. She also served at the National Treasury.
Chief Executive Officer
Business Leadership South Africa
Busisiwe Mavuso is the Chief Executive Officer of Business Leadership South Africa, a position she holds since 1 July 2019. She previously held the position of Chief Operations Officer at the BLSA from November 2017. Before joining BLSA, Mavuso was the Managing Director of the Black Management Forum (BMF), an organisation she joined in May 2009 and served in positions of Chief Financial Officer and Operations Director. She is a non-executive director on the boards of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Eskom Holdings SOC Ltd, Resultant Finance (a PIC investee company) and BMF investment (Pty) Ltd.
Group Executive: Project Preparation
DBSA
Catherine Koffman is the Group Executive of Project Preparation at DBSA. She is a qualified attorney, having obtained a primary law degree, and Masters in Law at the University of the Witwatersrand. She has 22 years’ experience in the legal, commercial, and financial services sectors. She is recognised for her extensive infrastructure investment banking expertise across numerous sectors and has been intimately involved in several firsts and landmark infrastructure project finance transactions. Following a fulfilling career in structured finance advisory at Arthur Andersen, Catherine joined Nedbank in 2004 in the Nedbank Capital (Nedbank Corporate and Investment Bank) Infrastructure and Telecommunications Project Finance team. As the first female in this role in a commercial bank in South Africa, Catherine’s mandate included determining and executing the group’s infrastructure growth strategy for South Africa and the rest of Africa. Catherine has either initiated or been called upon to participate in thought leadership design thinking relating to project pipeline development and policy changes.
Senior Futurist and Presidential Commissioner for the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Chris Adendorff is a Senior Futurist and Professsor at International School of Management (France), Ecole Des Ponts Business School (France), University of Johannesburg as well as Trinity University (USA) and MD of various entrepreneurial ventures in South Africa, Greece, and England. He has been a family business entrepreneur since 1985 and, along with his Professional Futurist Architect wife, Dr. Gillian Adendorff, built up their family business to such a degree that they are currently both active nationally and internationally. Prof. Adendorff holds 3 Doctoral degrees: a PhD in Commerce from Rhodes University, a Doctoral of Business Administration in Future Studies from NMU and a PhD in Development Studies from Trinity University in the USA. Prof. Adendorff also holds 2 master’s degrees namely Masters in Commerce obtained from Rhodes University and a MPhil (cum laude) in Futures Studies obtained from Stellenbosch University. As a professional Futurist, he specialises in Futures Studies, the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), Scenario and Strategic Planning, Governance and Turnaround Strategies and lectures and promotes Futures Studies, Foresight for Development and Entrepreneurship at various Universities and organisations around the globe. Prof. Adendorff has successfully promoted 46 doctoral studies and more than 170 masters research efforts to date. Prof. Adendorff currently also consults with various national governments and local municipalities in South Africa and as well as abroad on their Strategic Foresight Initiatives, the 4IR and turnaround strategies. He is also the author of: The Future of South Africa towards 2050. Prof. Adendorff also serves on the Presidential Advisory commission for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in South Africa
Professor
College of Business and Economics, Department of Public Management and Governance, University of Johannesburg
Daniel Meyer is a professor in the School of Public Management, Governance and Public Policy at University of Johannesburg, South Africa. Daniel is a specialist in regional and local economic development analysis and policy development. He has development various measurement tools, indexes, and scales to analyse regional economies. He has authored more than 100 internationally peer-reviewed research papers since 2015 and has also presented more than 50 international conference papers, including several keynote addresses. His research is multidisciplinary through the combination of development economics and public management and governance. He has successfully supervised 10 PhD students and 13 master’s students since 2015.
He has developed a large international network of research partners across the globe, with a strong focus on the Visegrád group of countries. He has also successfully completed and delivered more than 40 regional-development strategies for local governments and provincial governments. He is also involved in various community development projects in the communities where he lives. During his academic career he has received a number of awards, which include most inspiring lecturer in 2012, the Vice Chancellor’s award for community engagement via the Vaal LED warrior initiative in 2016, media person of the year in 2016, most productive senior researcher on the NWU Vaal campus in 2016, 2017 and 2018, and most productive senior researcher in the NWU Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences in 2019.
Sasol
Vice President: Solvents and Phenolics
Minister of Finance
Enoch Godongwana is a South African politician who has been serving as the Minister of Finance of South Africa in the government of President Cyril Ramaphosa since August 2021. He is also the current head of the African National Congress’s economic transformation subcommittee in the national executive committee (NEC). Godongwana was born in Cala, Eastern Cape and matriculated from St John’s College in Mthatha. He obtained an MSc degree in financial economics from the University of London in 1998.
Founder and Managing Director
27four Investment Managers
Fatima Vawda is the founder and Managing Director of 27four Investment Managers. She holds an MSc in Applied Mathematics and has over 21 years’ experience in financial markets. She has, over the years, received numerous accolades both domestically and internationally, having most recently won the Ernest & Young World Entrepreneur Southern Africa Emerging Category award. Fatima is an active member of the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals and represents the industry body at Nedlac on Financial Sector Policy and is also a member of the Financial Sector Charter Reporting Working Committee.
Vice President and Country Managing Director
Software AG South Africa
Kholiwe is Vice President and Country Managing Director of Software AG SA and the Executive Board Member. A Harvard Alumni and a Bachelor of Accounting Science graduate, Kholiwe completed executive and leadership programs at leading institutions both locally and abroad. Kholiwe has been invited to serve as Harvard Business School Alumni Board Member and is the Chairperson of the Sparrow School Educational Trust. She serves a non-Executive Director of Kagiso Tiso Holding (KTH), an investment holding company. Makhohliso also serves as an Audit Committee non-Executive Director of Kagiso Media, a subsidiary of KTH and a black-controlled company with interests in new media, content production, specialised publishing, research, radio broadcasting, and television.
Vice President
New Development Bank
Leslie Maasdorp is representing South Africa as vice president of the BRICS New Development Bank (NDB). Before his appointment at the BRICS bank, Leslie was appointed by the Board of ADvTECH as Chief Executive Officer. From 2009 until his appointment as CEO in 2014, he served as independent non-executive Chairman of ADvTECH. He has more than 25 years’ experience in economic policy making, corporate strategy and investment banking. Over this period, he has occupied senior leadership positions in both public and private sectors. In 1994, after the transition to democracy, he was appointed as Special Adviser to the Minister of Labour, Mr Tito Mboweni. In 1999, he was appointed by Cabinet as Deputy Director General and head of restructuring for the Department of Public Enterprises. In this role he led the restructuring and privatisation of large state-owned enterprises
He holds a BA degree in Economics and Psychology from the University of the Western Cape and a MSc degree in Economics from SOAS, University of London. In 2007 he was designated as a young global leader by the World Economic Forum. He is the Chairman of the Rhodes Trust Scholarship Committee for four provinces in South Africa, namely Gauteng, North West, Limpopo and Mpumalanga.
Head of Special Economic Zones
IDC
Lionel October is the Head of Special Economic Zones at the IDC. He served as the Director-General of the Department of Trade and Industry in South Africa since 2011. He joined the department in 2001 and is one of the longest serving Directors-General. He received the Best Performing Director-General Award in 2015. Prior to joining the civil service, he worked in the trade union movement for 10 years, including being the General Secretary of the South African Clothing and Textile Workers Union (SACTWU). He holds MSc Degree in Economics (Development) from the University of London, as well as a Law Degree and BA Honours in Law and Development studies from the University of the Western Cape.
Country Director for Southern Africa
The World Bank
Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly is the Country Director for South Africa, Botswana, Namibia, Lesotho and Eswatini. Since joining the World Bank in 1994, Marie-Nelly has held a variety of positions focused on public enterprise restructuring, support to private sector development, regional integration, and management of the oil sector. Marie-Nelly is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Nantes (France) and Bowling Green University (Ohio, USA). She has also completed several management programs at Harvard University in the US, worked for many international firms and was advisor to several governments before joining the World Bank.
Marie-Nelly is a Certified Public Accountant, a graduate of the Ecole Supérieure de Commerce de Nantes (France) and Bowling Green University (Ohio, USA). She has also completed several management programs at Harvard University in the US, worked for many international firms and was advisor to several governments before joining the World Bank.
Partner
City Insight
Dr. Michael Sutcliffe is, together with Ms. Sue Bannister, a founding partner of City Insight (Pty) Ltd, established in 2012. He earned an MSc degree from the University of Natal and a PhD degree from Ohio State University. The work of City Insight revolves around promoting strategic planning, local democracy, and development, working primarily in South Africa but with appointments on global analyses, as well as to do work across African cities and specific assignments in places such as India and Palestine. Previously, from 2002 to 2011, he was the City Manager of eThekwini metropolitan municipality. Before that he was appointed by President Mandela to chair the Municipal Demarcation Board, which redrew the boundaries for municipalities for the whole of South Africa.
South African Economist, BusinessPerson, Social Activist, and Strategist
Institution
Dr. Miriam Altman is recognised as a leading economist, strategist, thought leader and a passionate communicator. Altman read economics at McGill University where she got a Bachelor’s degree in 1984. She then proceeded to earn an MPhil in economics from Cambridge and a PhD in economics from Manchester University.
Altman served as an Executive Director at the Human Sciences Research Council where she worked on the Employment Scenarios project – its major project – from 2002 to 2012. The aim of the project was to utilise knowledge from stakeholders – the government, the private sector, labour, and academia – in order to identify feasible solutions to reduce South Africa’s high unemployment. She was the Head of Strategy and Regulatory Affairs at Telkom from June 2013 and April 2016. She currently works part-time as Commissioner on the National Planning Commission in the Office of the Presidency.
In addition to the aforementioned roles, she is also a visiting professor at Tsinghua University, and a non-resident Fellow at the Centre for Emerging Markets at the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) in Shanghai.
Group Executive: Infrastructure Fund
DBSA
Mohale Rakgate has served as Group Executive: Infrastructure Fund at DBSA since 1 October 2020. Rakgate was previously Group Executive: Project Preparation at DBSA. Rakgate joined the DBSA in 2007, following a stint at the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in Washington DC where he worked on projects in different regions across the developing world. In 2017, Rakgate was promoted to Group Executive: Project Preparation and in this role was instrumental in establishing the Bank’s project and programme development capabilities which resulted in national programmes such as the Independent Power Producer (IPP), Student Housing and Digital Connectivity programmes. Additionally, he led the establishment of the Climate and Environmental Finance unit, as well as the scaling up of the DBSA’s municipal infrastructure planning programmes. In his role as Group Executive: Infrastructure Fund, Rakgate will be responsible for setting up the Fund through a dedicated implementation unit that will be housed at the DBSA and facilitating the financial structuring, procurement and implementation of priority blended-finance projects and programmes. Rakgate holds a BCom degree from the University of Limpopo, a Post-graduate Certificate in Management from University of London, and an MSc degree in Global Finance from HKUST-NYU Stern. He has also completed an Advanced Management Programme from Harvard Business School, as well as the Project and Infrastructure Programme from London Business School.
Minister in the Presidency
Mondli Gungubele is a South African politician, trade union leader and educator who is the current Minister in the Presidency and a member of the National Assembly of South Africa for the African National Congress. He previously served as Executive Mayor of the Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (2010–2016), as Deputy Minister of Finance (2018–2019) and as Chairperson of the Social Development Committee (2019–2021). Gungubele is a member of the African National Congress. Gungubele was born on 1 February 1957. He has a Bachelor of Commerce (BCom) degree in law as well as a National Diploma in Nursing.
Chief Executive Officer
Anglo American Platinum
Natascha Viljoen joined Anglo American Platinum on 1 April 2020 and the Group Management Committee of Anglo American plc on 16 April 2020. She is an experienced process engineer with a demonstrated history of working in the mining industry. She has worked across several commodities in most areas in the industry with an Executive MBA (Cum Laude) from the University of Cape Town.
Prior to joining Anglo American, Natascha was Executive Vice President of Processing at Lonmin while also leading the company’s sustainability, employee health, environmental and stakeholder relations work at various times. Natascha began her career as an engineer at Iscor and, amongst other roles, took on leadership positions at AngloGold and was General Manager of BHP’s Klipspruit Colliery before joining Lonmin in 2008.
Chief Executive Officer
Infrastructure and Projects Authority
Nick Smallwood is the Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and head of Government’s Project Delivery Function. Nick is the former Vice President for Projects Engineering and Chief Projects Engineer at Shell. Nick has 40 years’ experience of managing complex project portfolios and having developed Shell’s Global Project Academy. At Shell, Nick was accountable for managing how projects were delivered and a variety of significant improvement programmes. Nick was also a trustee of the board of the Association for Project Management (APM) until November 2019, where he contributed to the overall development of the UK’s project management profession.
Minister of Cooperative Governance And Traditional Affairs
Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini is a South African politician, doctor, and anti-apartheid activist, currently serving as Minister of Cooperative Governance and Traditional Affairs. She was South Africa’s Minister of Health from 1994 to 1999, under President Nelson Mandela, Minister of Foreign Affairs, under both President Thabo Mbeki and President Kgalema Motlanthe, Minister of Home Affairs in the first term of former President Jacob Zuma, and Minister in the Presidency for the National Planning Commission for Policy and Evaluation under President Cyril Ramaphosa.
On 15 July 2012, Dlamini-Zuma was elected by the African Union Commission as its chairperson, making her the first woman to lead the organisation or its predecessor, the Organisation of African Unity; she took office on 15 October 2012 and served until 30 January 2017. Dr Dlamini Zuma holds a a BSc degree in Zoology and Botany from University of Zululand 1971, an MBChB from University of Bristol 1978, and a Diploma in Tropical Child Health from School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool 1986. She matriculated at Amanzimtoti Training College in 1967.
Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure
Patricia de Lille is a South African politician who is the current Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure and leader of the Good political party. She was previously Mayor of Cape Town from 2011 to 2018, and Western Cape Provincial Minister of Social Development from 2010 to 2011. She founded and led the Independent Democrats (ID), a political party which she formed in 2003 during a floor-crossing window, after she broke away from the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC). De Lille attended Methodist Primary School to acquire her primary education. In 1969, she enrolled in Bastiaanse Hoërskool for her secondary education. She then enrolled in Damelin College in 1985 to acquire her diploma in Industrial Relations.
South African Research Chair In Spatial Analysis And City Planning
Wits University
Professor Philip Harrison is the South African Research Chair in Spatial Analysis and City Planning funded by the National Research Foundation and hosted by the University of the Witwatersrand. From 2006 to 2010 he was Executive Director of Development Planning and Urban Management at the City of Johannesburg. Prior to that, he held academic positions at the Universities of the Witwatersrand and Natal. He also served as a member of the National Planning Commission in the Office of the President from 2010 to 2015, participating in the formulation of the National Development Plan. He has published widely internationally and locally in the fields of spatial planning, and urban and regional development, with a focus on governance, spatial policy, and transnational comparisons.
Executive Vice President: Energy Business
Sasol
Priscillah Mabelane is a South African chartered accountant. She is known to be the first woman in the history of South Africa’s oil industry to head a multi-national company. In August 2017, she was appointed the Chief Executive Officer of BP Southern Africa (BPSA), making her the first female to hold such a position. She has served as the Executive Vice President: Energy Business of Sasol since 1 September 2020. She grew up in Mabocha, near Burgersfort in Limpopo. She had her tertiary education at the University of the North, now the University of Limpopo and the University of KwaZulu Natal. She is a qualified chartered accountant with BCom Honours in accounting.
Mabelane joined BP in 2011 and served as Chief Financial Officer until her appointment as CEO. Prior to that, she worked in a number of large South African companies serving in various roles, including Airports Company of South Africa (ACSA), where she served as CFO; Ernst & Young, where she served as a tax director; and Eskom, where she held various roles in finance, tax and general management.
Chief Executive Officer Designate
Telkom
After matriculating at Marist Brothers St Henry’s, Serame completed a B.Sc. Chemistry at UCT and various Executive Management Courses at SAB, IMD (Switzerland), Wharton School of Business, GIBBS and INSEAD (Singapore).
Serame has led the mobile business as the CEO for the Consumer Division at Telkom SA SOC Ltd for the last 3 years. He has vast experience in the mobile sector and grew the mobile business from 5 million to over 15 million subscribers during his term as head of the Consumer division.
As from 1 October 2021 he will be stepping into the role of Group CEO Designate, taking over full responsibilities from the outgoing Telkom Group CEO, Mr. Sipho Maseko from the 1st of July 2022.
Before Telkom, he worked for General Electric Africa (GE), where he was the Growth Leader for Sub-Sharan Africa as well as Head of Transformation for GE South Africa.
Serame also spent 13 years with MTN in executive roles covering Marketing, Sales & Distribution and Operations. He has worked extensively on the African continent and Middle East, having lived and worked in Nigeria, Uganda, Iran, South Africa cumulating in his last role at MTN as CEO of MTN Ghana. Previously he has worked with leading FMCG companies such as Unilver, SAB and M-NET.
Chief Executive Officer
Telkom
Sipho Maseko is one of the most coveted leaders in South Africa. He has a commendable history of serving some of the top management positions in different companies. He currently serves as the outgoing Chief Executive Officer of Telkom. In the past Mr Maseko was Chairman of Shell and BP South African Petroleum Refineries (Pty) Ltd., Chief Executive Officer for BP Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd, Managing Director and Group Chief Operating Officer at Vodacom SA, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director at Vodacom Group Ltd, and Managing Director at Vodacom (Pty) Ltd.
Mr Maseko received a graduate degree from University of Natal and an undergraduate degree from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Chairman
Intellidex
Stuart Theobald is Chairman of Intellidex, a financial markets research and consulting firm with offices in Sandton, Boston and London. In addition to his role at Intellidex, Stuart was founding editor and publisher of BD Investors Monthly which was the largest circulating investment magazine in South Africa. He is Research Associate with the Centre for Philosophy of Natural and Social Science at the London School of Economics. Stuart has a weekly column on finance industry and financial markets that appears in Business Day every Monday.
President
Consulting Engineers South Africa
Sugen Pillay is Managing Director of Zitholele Consulting and is registered as a professional engineer with over twenty years’ experience in the design and implementation of projects that cover most facets of civil engineering; and has more recently focused on Project and Programme Management related to multi-disciplinary mega projects and infrastructure programmes. He holds a BSc. Hons in Civil Engineering as well as a Post Graduate Diploma in Civil Engineering and an MBA (cum laude).
Advisor to the CEO on International Affairs
NEPAD
Tandeka C. Nkiwane is Special Advisor to the CEO of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency, the technical implementation agency of the African Union. A professor of international relations, she also served as Director of the Development Research Institute in Johannesburg. Her areas of expertise include regional economic integration, political economy, regional integration, South African public policy, gender, and development, as well as economic development in Africa. Professor Nkiwane has taught at several universities in South Africa, as well as in the Department of Government at Smith College in Massachusetts, USA. She completed her PhD studies at the School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) of The Johns Hopkins University, Washington DC, and in 2007 she was named une personnalitée d’avenir by the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Divisional Executive: Mining, Metals, Infrastructure and Energy
IDC
Reginald Lavhelesani Demana is former Chief Executive & Executive Director at Wescoal Holdings Ltd. Demana spent over 14 years at the forefront of investment banking at Nedbank, focussing on mining advisory work. His scale of expertise includes merger and acquisition activity, black economic empowerment structuring, capital raising, initial public offerings and general strategic corporate finance. He received an undergraduate degree from the University of the Witwatersrand and a graduate degree from The University of Exeter.
Head: Infrastructure
IDC
Nick Smallwood is the Chief Executive Officer of the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and head of Government’s Project Delivery Function. Nick is the former Vice President for Projects Engineering and Chief Projects Engineer at Shell. Nick has 40 years’ experience of managing complex project portfolios and having developed Shell’s Global Project Academy. At Shell, Nick was accountable for managing how projects were delivered and a variety of significant improvement programmes. Nick was also a trustee of the board of the Association for Project Management (APM) until November 2019, where he contributed to the overall development of the UK’s project management profession.
Director of African Centre for Cities
University of Cape Town
Prof Edgar Pieterse is an urban scholar, writer, curator, and creative agent whose interests include the theory and practice of policy discourses and interventions to make African cities more just, open and accessible. He holds the South African Research Chair in Urban Policy at the University of Cape Town and is Director of the African Centre for Cities. Formerly a special policy advisor to the premier of the Western Cape, he is the co-author of New Urban Worlds: Inhibiting Dissonant Times (2017), and co-editor of Africa’s Urban Revolution (2014) and Rogue Urbanism: Emergent African Cities (2013). He is a member of the Research Advisory Committees of the Gauteng City-region Observatory and LSE Cities. He was the co-lead author of the Urban Chapter for the International Panel on Social Progress. Prof Pieterse is a Visiting Extraordinary Professor at the University of Stellenbosch. He is also attached to the University of Cambridge, Programme for Sustainability Leadership, which provides leadership development programmes, dialogues and other learning services for senior individuals and major organisations around the world so that they can respond creatively to global challenges. As the founder member of Isandla Institute, Professor Edgar served as a board member until 2016 and on the board of Open Society Foundation of South Africa.
