CEO Today Africa Awards

SOUTH AFRICA 45 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Africa Awards 2017 KHALID ABDULLA Group Chief Executive Officer of African Equity Empowerment Investments Limited MBA (UCT), BCompt (Hons), CTA (Unisa), Project Management (UCT), Member of Institute of Accounting and Commerce (MIAC) Appointed: 29 August 2007 EXPERTISE AND EXPERIENCE: Mr Abdulla is the Group chief executive officer of African Equity Empowerment Investments Limited and has been with the AEEI Group since 1999. He served as the CEO of various subsidiaries, i.e. the information technology and financial services businesses and as Group CFO in 2007 before being appointed as Group CEO in November 2009. Mr Abdulla has been appointed to and serves on various boards and NGOs. He has over 30 years’ commercial experience related to health care, technology, financial services, events and tourism as well as fishing. He is a regular invitee and participant at the World Economic Forum in Africa as well as the Summer Davos in China. He was the recipient of the Black Business Executive Circle (BBEC)/Absa Bank Kaelo Awards in April 2010 for leadership. He was a finalist of the 2015 Oliver Empowerment Awards – Top Male Leader of the Year. Khalid Abdulla was ranked among the 10 best executives of 2015 by Financial Mail as one of the best CEOs in the country. MAJOR DIRECTORSHIPS: British Telecoms South Africa (BT), Saab Grintek Defence (Pty) Ltd, Health System Technologies (Pty) Ltd, espAfrika (Pty) Ltd, Sekunjalo Technology Solutions Ltd, Bioclones (Pty) Ltd and Premier Fishing SA (Pty) Ltd. ABOUT KHALID ABDULLA www.aeei.co.za FIRM PROFILE AEEI is a majority black-owned and black-controlled investment holding company based in South Africa. The Group holds both national and international strategic investments across a broad range of industries, including marine, technology, health and biotherapeutics and enterprise development. Its support is strategically focused towards supporting Broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) within small, medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs). AEEI is responsible for the appointment of the boards and management structures of all its subsidiary companies. It currently (both directly and indirectly) employs over 2150 employees and over 11 000 people; predominantly South African, benefit from its investments and associated companies. AEEI is a significant exporter and generates a large portion of income in foreign currency. The Company has a growing international reputation as a founding member company of the World Economic Forum (WEF) New Champions and Community Global Growth Company (CGGC). AEEI is also a member of the Advisory Board of the Community of Global Growth Companies as well as the Green Growth Action Alliance (G2A2). As a multi award-winning BBBEE Group, AEEI is the empowerment partner of choice for a range of small to large businesses, and it enjoys strong partnerships with multinationals such as British Telecoms South Africa, Saab South Africa, Pioneer Food Group (Pty) Ltd as well as Siemens, Microsoft and GlaxoSmithKline. As a business founded on the principles of BBBEE, AEEI is firmly rooted amongst historically disadvantaged individuals (HDIs) and community organisations. These groups form the majority of the Group’s shareholder base. Black ownership of AEEI exceeds 80% and the majority of its economic benefits are enjoyed by black stakeholders. The Company is recognised by its peers as a pioneer in promoting the interests of HDIs and previously marginalised communities.