South Africa

Natalie is an experienced entrepreneur and business development professional with a decade and a half experience leading and growing organizations across Africa. She earned her MBA from Saïd Business School at Oxford University where she focused on Entrepreneurship, served as co-Chair of the Africa Business Group, and was selected as a Skoll Associate with the… read more »

Llew is the Managing Partner of Newtown Partners, a venture capital firm founded by him and Vinny Lingham. The firm invests globally in early-stage, emerging technology and disruptive business model startups that drive economic activity in a fundamentally positive way. In 2019 they started working with global logistics group, Imperial (JSE:IPL) to enable their corporate… read more »

Cathy was appointed Managing Director of SAP Africa in March 2018. She is the first-ever female executive of an emerging markets market unit in SAP’s history. Cathy started her career in the insurance industry as an application developer. She also spent three years in the UK, consolidating her expertise, and held a number of executive… read more »

Hilda is an award-winning entrepreneur and author. She has more than 10 years of experience in Fintech, regulation and working with multinationals supply chain firms like Coca-Cola to develop innovations across Africa. She previously founded WezaTele, a Fintech startup in Kenya that was acquired in 2015. She is currently the Founder & CEO of Pezesha,… read more »

Mmathebe is an investment professional, entrepreneurship scholar, and accomplished executive successful at leading teams through change, strategic corporate renewal through innovation, and investing in new value propositions. She is a multi-talented leader with a solid career history in information technology and telecommunications, financial services, and retail. She is a qualified Chartered Accountant registered with the… read more »

Kayode Babarinde is currently the Executive Director, at Africa Blockchain Institute, a Pan Africa Institute, that is building Blockchain capacity in Africa for Digital Transformation. He takes genuine interest in developing the capacities of young professionals, and enthusiasts, on emerging tech, policy, business, and social impact. Kayode is also the Lead Partner of KAYBABS Consult,… read more »

João is a critical thinker and solution-oriented business management professional with over 12 years of experience in different countries and industries. Specialised in innovation strategy, he has designed and implemented several internal and external initiatives, fostering strong creative cultures in his organisations. For the past few years, João has been working at Nestlé East and… read more »

Ambassador Lammila newly arrives in South Africa from Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation, where she worked as the Consul-General of Finland. Previous ambassadorial posts in Ms Lammila’s career include Ambassador-at-Large for Global Women’s Issues and Gender Equality (2015–2017) and Ambassador to Mexico accredited to Cuba, Haiti, and Central America (2011–2015). Previously, she was the Deputy Head… read more »

Jean-Pierre (JP) Smith has been involved in politics since 1989 when he joined the then-Democratic Party (DP). He started working for the Democratic Party in 1994 until the formation of the DA party in 2000 and was elected Ward Councillor for Ward 58.In 2001, he was elected as Chairperson of the Good Hope Subcouncil and… read more »

Mr Fikile Majola currently serves as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti), the Republic of South Africa following his appointment on 29 May 2019. He is a member of the 6th Parliament as a representative of the African National Congress (ANC). He also served as a member of the 5th Parliament and… read more »

SOME OF OUR 2021 SPEAKERS Deputy Minister: Department of Trade & Industry Deputy Minister Fikile Majola BIOGRAPHY: Mr Fikile Majola currently serves as the Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (the dti), the Republic of South Africa following his appointment on 29 May 2019. He is a member of the 6th Parliament as a representative of… read more »

Thobile Chittenden is the CEO of Makers Valley Partnership, a community organisation in the east of Johannesburg, Thobile is a special interest in social and creative entrepreneurship as well as non-profit organisations. A recent TedX speaker, she is a network co-lead at the Wellbeing Economy Alliance, a global movement that advocates for alternative economies that… read more »

Dillion S Phiri is the co-founder of Creative Nestlings, he has brought thousands of creatives across the continent and the world together, spotlighting key voices in the global conversation on the business of creativity. As the co-founding partner and a lead mentor/coach at J&B Hive, Dillion co-created the operational strategy and creative fund that support… read more »

Lebo Lion is an award-winning digital marketer, iTunes podcasting pioneer, speaker, author, strategist and influencer whose viral Twitter threads, digital marketing expertise and courageous conversations have led to her being one of South Africa’s most sought-after speakers and business consultants. She has transformed more than 1 000 South African start-ups and SMMEs through her global… read more »

Mariapaola McGurk, MP for short, is a visual artist, researcher, lecturer and consultant. Her area of speciality lies in the creative economy and creative entrepreneurship. MP is passionate about creative entrepreneurship and its potential positive impact on youth unemployment in South Africa. She holds an honours degree in visual arts and an executive MBA from… read more »