Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
I’ve led a R22-billion public institution, built a R500-million corporate impact portfolio, and spent 20 years proving that the most powerful entrepreneurship in Africa starts in the township. I turn that experience into strategy, education, and ecosystems that change trajectories. I’ve spent 20 years asking one question: how do we build systems that enable more people, not just a few, to participate, create, and thrive? That question has taken me from banking boardrooms to township streets, from student funding policy to entrepreneurship classrooms. My career sits at the intersection of corporate leadership, public sector transformation, academic scholarship, and entrepreneurship development. I’ve held senior executive roles at Absa and Barclays Africa, led NSFAS through a critical period of national policy transformation, and spent years as faculty at GIBS: teaching Strategy, Operations, and Entrepreneurship to MBA and executive students while researching the entrepreneurial intention–action gap that shapes so many young African lives. In 2004, I founded YLED, a youth development nonprofit that has now reached over 25,000 young people across South Africa. That work taught me something no boardroom could: entrepreneurship isn’t just an economic activity. It’s a pathway to dignity, agency, and nation-building. That conviction became a book. Rising from the Township documents and amplifies the journeys of South African entrepreneurs, translating lived experience into learning, inspiration, and practical tools for the next generation. Today, through PAPO Communications, I work with corporates, institutions, and ecosystems on the things that matter most: strategy, social impact, leadership development, and entrepreneurship programme design. I engage through: Speaking & facilitation · Advisory & board roles · Entrepreneurship programme design · Academic & applied research Let’s build something that lasts.
Leads PAPO Communications, a strategic advisory and leadership development firm dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship, public-sector effectiveness, youth development, and shared value across Africa.
I am an award-winning Senior Lecturer at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, where I teach Strategy, Entrepreneurship, Operations, and Leadership across MBA and executive education programmes. My role includes curriculum design, programme leadership, executive facilitation, and African case development, with a strong focus on translating theory into practical leadership capability. I have completed advanced faculty development programmes at Harvard Business School, including Participant-Centred Learning and Case Method Teaching, as well as Case Study Writing certification, and I am a participant in Babson College’s Price-Babson Symposium for Entrepreneurship Educators, the world’s leading forum for entrepreneurship pedagogy. My work focuses on developing globally competitive, contextually grounded leaders and entrepreneurs, drawing on executive and entrepreneurial experience and world-class teaching methods to bridge strategic thinking, operational execution, and values-based leadership in complex African and emerging-market environments.
Steven teaches Strategy, Operations Management and Entrepreneurship.
As a strategic leader at ABSA Group, I am passionate about driving shared value and positive impact across the African continent. With a rich background in executive leadership roles, I bring a wealth of experience to my current position as Managing Executive for Corporate Citizenship. My primary responsibility is to lead initiatives that contribute to societal well-being while aligning seamlessly with ABSA's core values and business objectives. I specialize in strategic leadership, partnership development, and social impact assessment, making me a pivotal driver of ABSA's unwavering commitment to corporate responsibility.
At ABSA, I am at the forefront of driving operational excellence and delivering tangible results. My role involves coordinating strategy process and initiatives, overseeing the Transformation program, managing Governance, Risk and Control and delivering key business objectives. I am committed to enhancing efficiency, optimising processes, and fostering a culture of innovation in order to ensure that ABSA CIB’s Transactional Banking remains at the forefront of the African Financial Services Industry.
Led R800m in business transformation projects, optimizing cost structures and improving operational efficiency.