Gavin Mageni

About Gavin Mageni - A professional International Speaker by Pholisa Magqibelo (Senior Manager: SABS DI)

Gavin Mageni, as he so fondly wants to be known as, is just another somebody who is trying to re-direct the course of South Africa's economic regression.

As a well-rounded leader he led many teams to success and relevance across both the Private Sector (Financial Services Industry) and the Public Sector (Government Technical Agency). As part of the Africa Marketing Executive Management team, Gavin gained invaluable exposure throughout the African continent in his roles with Absa and Barclays Africa. His Strategic leadership capabilities were tested in his keen ability to integrate Strategic Marketing, Business Development, Communication and Corporate Affairs - a capability which is still lacking on the African continent.

In his view, the ability to generate sustainable value at a consistent pace is a key imperative often sacrificed by the need for immediate gratification by short-term gains. He further states that business leaders underestimate the power that lies in the principles "doing the basics right and money will follow", "securing the foundations: being consistent and staying committed to your people" and "protecting institutional memory".

Besides the many accolades and achievements, his philosophy was put to the test in his task to implement a turnaround strategy for the SA Design Institute, which forms part of the Department of Trade and Industry, South Africa. The Institute is currently a 50 year old institution which formed an essential part of local industrialization and innovation. Staying true to his philosophy, he managed to implement a turnaround strategy in less than 18 months, catapulted the entity from government grant dependency to self-sustainable revenue generation. Under his leadership he led the team, without dedicated business development experts, to secure more than R150m for the implementation of client value propositions within the sphere of Design Innovation Entrepreneurship and ED/SD localization.