The Coega Development Corporation (CDC) Board has appointed Khwezi Tiya as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), effective from January 2021.
Following the departure of Pepi Silinga as CEO, the CDC Board undertook a recruitment process to source a suitable candidate for the position.
“Tiya, who is no stranger to the CDC, brings with him a wealth of experience, integrity and solid investment focus. He brings with him a collective of all the attributes that the CDC requires from a leader to grow it to unimagined levels.
“His credible reputation as an acclaimed and empowering leader will undoubtedly benefit the interests of the shareholder, the province of the Eastern Cape and the entire country, given the role the CDC plays on national economic and social infrastructure projects,” the CDC said on Wednesday.
Tiya holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering (University of Natal, South Africa), an MBA (Nyenrode Business Universiteit, the Netherlands) and a Master’s degree in Financial Management (SOAS, University of London, UK).
As part of his senior executive development, he has completed the Advanced Management Programme at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, USA.
He has attended the Harvard Business School’s 2014 Global Energy Seminar, which has helped shape his thinking and understanding of the energy transitions.
Tiya is also a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) since 2005, as a testimony to his understanding of the overall requirements for complex project development and project management.
He began his career as an engineer in 1992, working on multidisciplinary projects.
Before joining his soon-to-be former employer, Standard Bank Corporate and Investment Banking in 2010, where he is currently Head of the Oil and Gas and Public Sectors (South Africa) in the Client Coverage Division, he worked for the CDC from 1999 in a variety of senior and executive roles in strategy, operations and business development.
“He was intimately involved in the business and political negotiations that were necessary for the advancement of the Coega Special Economic Zone (SEZ), formerly Coega Industrial Development Zone Project.
“He gained particular experience in the execution of projects from a public sector perspective, collaboration with other State-owned companies, proposals for infrastructure regulatory changes for economic efficiency, development of the SEZ operational systems, led the strategy for the acquisition of investors and participated in various governance structures to ensure the management of risk and effective delivery,” the CDC said.
Tiya was intimately involved in the early decisions on the diversification of the CDC’s business to look at broader infrastructure and services, including an information and communications technology (ICT) platform, as well as enabling other economic projects, such as the Nelson Mandela Bay Logistics Park, which is still under the management of the CDC.
His luminous career has involved strategy development, project development, operational innovation, business origination, building client relationships internationally, leading diverse and empowered teams, conceptualising and executing complex projects, designing and implementing growth strategies. – SAnews.gov.za
