JP van der Merwe is the Head of Investment Promotion at Wesgro, the Western Cape’s Trade, Investment and Tourism promotion agency.

Having previously worked in economic development consulting, as well as for the Canadian and New Zealand governments in South Africa, JP brings together an in depth understanding of the interconnection between the private and public sectors.

JP has worked extensively on analysing and providing insight to clients on the economic and political operating environments in southern Africa and how these impact on businesses in the region. JP’s work at Wesgro involves the promotion of the Western Cape as an investment destination for both local and foreign businesses, as well as the facilitation of investment into the province.

JP holds a Masters in Peace and Conflict Studies from the University of Sydney and holds two qualifications from the University of Cape Town, namely an Honours in International Relations and a Bachelor of Commerce in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

Mark Sham is the founder and CEO of Like a Tourist which is a travel content platform that seeks to inspire people to act like tourists in their own country.

He is also a prolific writer and you can follow his adventures across all social media platforms.

Mark has also been speaking professionally for the last fifteen years and covers topics like future thinking, education in the workplace, Happiness, and digital marketing.

Eduardo Fairen Soria has been the CEO of TAAG since October 2021. Previously, Eduardo was the CEO of Viva Air Peru (2017 – 2019), Chief Operations Officer (COO), and Senior VP of Maintenance at Viva Air Colombia (2014 – 2017).

With 40 years of experience in the world of Aviation, Eduardo was additionally the Co-Founder of Vueling Airlines in 2004. Eduardo’s experience spans across different senior positions within four continents for companies like Iberia, Lufthansa, DHL, Air Arabia, and CamairCo.

Patricia de Lille was appointed as the Minister of Tourism by President Cyril Ramaphosa in March 2023.

Minister de Lille is a seasoned politician and public servant having has served in all three spheres of government since South Africa’s first democratic election in 1994.

De Lille has been fighting injustice for more than 45 years and was part of the team which led the constitutional negotiations and the team who drafted South Africa’s Constitution.

She is the only South African female politician to start her own political parties and win seats in all three spheres of government. De Lille achieved this feat twice, in 2003 with the Independent Democrats and in 2019 with the GOOD Movement.

De Lille served as the Mayor of Cape Town for seven years between 2011 and 2018 where accountability and clean governance were the cornerstones of her term as the City of Cape Town achieved four consecutive clean audits.

She spearheaded progressive projects such as using infrastructure investment as a lever to spur economic growth, developed the transit-orientated development strategy and many other redress projects such as finalising land restitution cases to reverse the legacy of apartheid spatial planning.

In 2017, De Lille co-authored a book with Craig Kesson titled: “View from the City Hall” Reflections on governing Cape Town.

Patricia De Lille previously served as a board member of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, Chairperson of the Global Parliament of Mayors, Vice-President of the World Energy Cities Partnership and a commissioner for the Global Commission on Economy and Climate. She is an Honorary Member of the Global Parliament of Mayors.

Prior to her appointment as Minister of Tourism, Minister de Lille served as the Minister of the Department of Public Works and Infrastructure (DPWI) from June 2019 to March 2023 where her focus was to drive spatial equality, repurposing government’s assets for greater socio-economic value and driving the department’s Green Buildings Policy, clamping down on corruption and ensuring that public land and public buildings were used for public good.

De Lille also spearheaded the Infrastructure Investment Plan, approved by Cabinet in May 2020 which formed an integral part of South Africa’s Economic.

Reconstruction and Recovery Plan

During her tenure as Minister of Public Works and Infrastructure, De Lille approved the release of thousands of parcels of land for land reform: land redistribution, land restitution and land tenure. Minister de Lille also drove the implementation of infrastructure projects by gazetting of 62 Strategic Integrated Projects in various sectors and 9 Green Hydrogen Projects in terms of the Infrastructure Development Act of 2014. Under the ethos of using public land for public good, during de Lille’s tenure as Minister of DPWI, she also released 14 state owned properties to be used as shelters for victims of gender based violence in 4 provinces.

Under De Lille’s leadership, the DPWI also reduced the number of overdue 30 day payments with the department later achieving between 95 and 99% on time payment rate to service providers.

In her role as the Minister of Tourism, De Lille will use her vast experience as a former mayor of a major tourist destination, Cape Town, to drive destination marketing, increase air access and visitor numbers to South Africa. A key focus for the tourism portfolio will also be to increase the number of jobs created by the sector.

Mireille is the Provincial Minister of Finance and Economic Opportunities in the Western Cape, serving as the executive authority for the Department of Economic Development and Tourism, and the Provincial Treasury.

Mireille has served as the Chief Whip of the Majority Party in the Western Cape Provincial Parliament, and chaired the Ad Hoc Committee on COVID-19, the Programme Authority, and the Parliamentary Oversight Committee.

She has also previously served as the Chairperson for the Community Safety Committee, the Conduct Committee, and has been a member of the Budget Committee for 8 years.

This extensive experience on a variety of portfolios has enabled Mireille to develop a deep understanding of the policy challenges that the Western Cape and South Africa face.

Her experience as Chair of the COVID-19 Ad Hoc Committee, in particular, positions Mireille well to lead the post-pandemic economic recovery.

A champion of innovation at the Provincial Parliament, Mireille is passionate about economic growth and job creation. She believes in inspiring fresh, new ideas, and building partnerships with the private sector, and other levels of government, to get the job done.

Mireille has a Master of Arts degree in International Relations from the University of Stellenbosch, and a Master of Philosophy in Criminology, Law and Society from the University of Cape Town. She has also completed the Programme in Political Science and Sociology at Sciences Po (L’Institut d’études politiques de Paris) in France.

Nkem Onwuamaegbu is Acting Regional Head, Africa for the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), the political risk insurance and credit enhancement arm of the World Bank Group. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Ms. Onwuamaegbu’s mandate is to expand MIGA’s business opportunities across all sectors in line with MIGA’s commitment to climate, low income and fragile and post-conflict countries.

Ms. Onwuamaegbu joined MIGA in 2003 and has underwritten projects in all sectors, most recently in the agribusiness, manufacturing and services sectors with extensive experience in the Africa region.

During her career at MIGA, she has worked on projects including the first Green and Social Project Bond in Turkey, Master Contract for an Agri PE Fund across 13 Sub-Saharan African countries and the Bujagali Hydroelectric Power Project in Uganda.

Candice has been in practice for more than 20 years and she specialises in corporate and commercial law.

Her expertise includes mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and reorganisations, company law, corporate governance and black economic empowerment. She also advises on commercial transactions and contracts. She has experience in local and international cross-border deals.

In Africa, she has advised on deals in South Africa, Mozambique, Kenya, the DRC, Mauritius, Seychelles and Nigeria. Abroad, she has advised on investment from the USA, Australia, Germany, France, Malta, Jersey, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

Lemma joined Ethiopian on September 06, 1999 as Marketing Agent. He has been serving in various managerial positions including Lead Central Reservation Control Agent, Supervisor Central Reservation Control and Revenue Management, Area Manager Burkina Faso, Malaysia and France.

In December 2017, Mr. Lemma was appointed as Director Global Call Center, and A/Managing Director Ethiopian International Services since September 01, 2019.

Currently, he is serving Ethiopian as Chief Commercial Officer as of April 2022.

He holds BSC Degree in Civil Engineering from Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology, MSC in Geotechnical Engineering from Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Technology and MSC Degree in Integrated Marketing Communication from University of Mississippi.

Dr Harold Goodwin has worked on 4 continents with local communities, their governments and the inbound and outbound tourism industry.

He is a Professor Emeritus and Responsible Tourism Director at the Institute of Place Management at Manchester Metropolitan University, Managing Director of the Responsible Tourism Partnership and adviser to the World Travel Market on its Responsible Tourism programme at WTM London, which attracts 2000 participants each year, and WTM Africa and Latin America and Arabian Travel Market.

He chairs the panels of judges for the World Responsible Tourism Awards and the other Awards in the family, Africa, India and Latin America.

Ms. Peninah Malonza, OGW, was born in 1974 in Kitui South Subcounty, Kitui County in South Eastern Kenya.

Peninah desires to touch the lives of ordinary Kenyans by uplifting their livelihoods. She is passionate about teamwork, networking and building strong relationships with key stakeholders in an effort to positively impact people’s lives.

Peninah served as the Deputy Governor of Kitui County, 2013-2017 where as a member of the County Executive Management Team, she managed and coordinated the implementation of both County and National Government legislation.

Prior to her entry in the public service, Peninah worked in Development organisations including Compassion International – Kenya Office 2006- 2013 where she rose to the position of Partner in Training and Support Director. Peninah is a graduate of the University of Nairobi in Anthropology. She also holds two masters’ degrees from the same institution in Public Health and in Project Planning and Management.