Nosipho Siwisa DamasaneCountry Director for RATP DEV and Chairman of the Board at the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT)

Born in rural Peddie in the Eastern Cape.

She is a multi-award winning CEO who has:

• Been inducted in the Hall of Fame for Women in Logistics by the OECD in 2017 in Dubai,

• Honoured as the South African Institute of People Management (IPM) CEO of the year Award in 2014,

• Awarded the Business Woman of the year – Corporate category by the Business Woman Association (BWASA) in 2015, and

• Awarded the SADC - Regional Woman in Logistics Award in SADC in 2015.

She has 24 years’ experience in Logistics and is a woman of many firsts and she has been a pioneer for women in particular previously disadvantaged women in the male dominated fields of logistics, port operations and rail integrated solutions as the:

• First woman Port Manager in the world in 1998,

• First woman COO in Transnet Port Terminals in 2009,

• First woman CEO at RBCT in 2012,

• First woman Senior Vice president in Supply Chain at Sasol in 2016; now the

• First South African CEO at BOC in 2019.

Effectively a lot has been tested on her for and on behalf of women in South Africa and Globally.

She is passionate about people and their development to the extent that she doubles up as a mentor/ coach/ sponsor for women leaders, she was trained by the two top global leaders Les Brown in public speaking and John C. Maxwell in mentorship. She believes that business could never survive without its employees. People are the cornerstone of every organisation.

She spent the first ten years of her career in Audit firms, Aitken and peat (now KPMG) and completed her articles with Ernst and Young.

She has studied in SA, Singapore, Rotterdam, London and Belgium; in accounting, Leadership, Port Management and Logistics.

She recently wrote and published a book - Finding The Woman Within “How to thrive in a male dominated society”, a memoir on her simple life story and lessons in leadership as a mentorship tool for young leaders especially women. The key message in her book, is that it is possible for everyone to come from rural disadvantaged South Africa to Global board rooms.

She has written and delivered papers globally on personal development and port and rail logistics.

Author – Finding The Woman Within “How to thrive in a male dominated society”