Mr. Sipho Mseleku is the current Executive Chairman of Sakhumnotho Group Holdings. He is the immediate past President of the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry based in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. He served as President for 5 years (2008 – 2012). The Chamber represents chambers of commerce and Industry from all 46 African Countries.
Sipho is passionate about African business, and in 2009 he established the Global Business Roundtable, which is a network of business people around the world and which he is currently President of . The Global Business Roundtable has presence in more than 20 countries. Sipho feels very strongly about Intra-African Trade and believes it is imperative for economic growth and development on the continent.
Sipho was the Chief Executive Officer of the Association of SADC Chambers of Commerce and Industry (ASCCI) for five years, The Chief Executive Officer of Chambers of Commerce and Industry South Africa (CHAMSA) for three years, and The Chief Executive Officer of the National African Federation Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NAFCOC) for three years.
Sipho Mseleku is the President of The Global Business Roundtable, a trade mission and business networking which began in South Africa, to create awareness on the need to urgently look into the numerous untapped natural endowment meant to place the continent among the biggest economies of the world. According to Mseleku, the network tends to bring Africans together for investment opportunities that abound in the African region and the rest of the world.
Sipho holds the strong view that lack of vision, negligence, corruption, poor planning are some of the major reasons why most African countries are poor in the midst of abundant resources. Sipho believes that one of the key reasons for the underdevelopment of African nations in spite of the abundant natural resources is leadership. He is quoted in an interview, “I think the key problem we have in Africa is leadership. And if we do not help decide the type of leadership we need in Africa, we will not be able to explore the opportunities.
So, it is very important for our leaders to surround themselves with people that have capacity and expertise that would enable them make proper decisions. These opportunities available to the continent would help it grow its economies – to create jobs and eradicate poverty and also free the continent from debts. We want to ensure that countries in Africa trade with one another, because there is a lot we have on the continent, and it is only when we work together that we can achieve more in terms of general development. We need to get out of that mind-set of thinking that western world is beautiful and better and that Africa can’t succeed without them. Africans need to deliberate to create solutions for the infrastructural decay, the food insecurity, and the energy problems threatening the continent’s development. If we work together with one mind and purpose, we can make a big difference on the continent.