He‘s touted by many as one of the foremost thought leaders on Africa’s competitive identity & public diplomacy with vast expertise in global marketing; destination marketing; trade and investment promotion; diplomacy; and development of the cultural industries. His research is on how a country’s competitive identity impacts on consumer and investor decision making.
In 2020 he was nominated as the “World CEO of the Year” by the World CEO Rankings Board.
A DBA candidate at the University of Northampton, he holds an MSc in Global Marketing (University of Liverpool); MA in Dramatic Art & BA Hons (Witwatersrand); a Post-Graduate Diploma (IMM Graduate School of Marketing); and a BA (Limpopo).
He received vocational training in public diplomacy & international relations at the University of Southern California and Netherlands’ Clingendal Institute of International Relations.
This former Consul-General to Milan, has experience from diverse fields: private sector (having worked as Publishing Director at Heinemann Publishers); state-owned companies (Senior Manager: Corporate Communication at Telkom; General Manager: Marketing & Communications, Trade & Investment Limpopo; most recently as Group Executive: Trade, Investment and Regulatory Enablement, Gauteng Growth and Development Agency); public service (Chief Director: Marketing Communications, Department of Trade & Industry; General Manager: Provincial Communication Services, Limpopo’s Office of the Premier; and Chief Director: Public Diplomacy, Department of International Relations & Cooperation); and the anti-apartheid NGO sector (Editor-in-Chief, Learn & Teach Publications; and Director, Independent Magazine Group).
He’s a member of the Black Management Forum and an ex-EXCO member of the Polokwane Chamber of Business. He serves in the NEC of the National Writers’ Association of SA.
A writer, poet & filmmaker, his latest book is “Sound and Fury: The Chronicles of Healing”. It’s Foreword is written by Kgalema Motlanthe, former President of SA. He co-hosted a slot on Power FM mainstreaming issues affecting people with disabilities from January 2019 to end 2020.
He promotes “Made in Africa” through Jambo Africa Online and the Biashara Services & Products Africa (BiSPA) Conference & Exhibition.
Brandhill Africa is an Associate Member of the World Free Zones Organisation; a Supporting Partner to the African Agri Council; and a Strategic Partner to Proudly SA.
As an ANC underground operative and student leader in the mid-1980s, he spent thirteen months in detention under the State of Emergency.
