At just 37 years old, Phuti Malabie has achieved an impressive amount. Her career has spanned continents and included spells at infrastructure specialist Fieldstone in New York, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and, most recently, managing director of energy investment firm Shanduka Energy. When it comes to her educational background, she boasts qualifications from Harvard University, the State University of New Jersey in the US, and De Montfort University in the UK.
The Banker is not alone in recognising her success. In 2003, the Association of Black Securities and Investment Professionals awarded her the top project finance award for 2003, the World Economic Forum rated her as a Young Global Leader in 2007 and The Wall Street Journal named her as one of the top 50 women in the world to watch.
So what is the secret of success in an African environment? Ms Malabie says it is all about building partnerships, not only with local firms in particular countries, but also between countries.
“Partnering helps by giving you access to knowledge and understanding of the social framework and nuances that may not be immediately obvious to a foreigner,” she says. “Certainly from a regional perspective our economies are interlinked and to this extent we should leverage on each other’s strengths. While South Africa has the deepest capital markets and most robust regulatory frameworks, we lack access to sufficiently deep markets to give us the growth trajectory most businesses aspire to.”
Ms Malabie is full of optimism for the future but says the world media must convey Africa’s success stories, not just the doom and gloom.
“We’ve come a long way from the days when Africa was referred to as the hopeless region to today, where sub-Saharan Africa is a growth region,” she says. “We need more balanced reporting from the media – focusing only on negative issues is not necessarily a sign of being objective.”
Phuti Malabie’s African hero: Nelson Mandela.
“I have a few but if I must name only one, then it would have to be Nelson Mandela.”