New BPESA CEO Announcement
- February 2, 2022
Dear BPESA members, partners, and stakeholders
BPESA, has a carefully planned leadership succession plan that it has been implementing to ensure that the important work that we do, on your behalf, will always continue seamlessly and with the right leadership in key positions in our Board, EXCO and OpsCo.
Based on that plan we have made several changes in all our structures since our inception in 2017, the most recent being my transition into the Board Chairperson role, taking over from Evan Jones last year in October. We are in the process of introducing some further changes in our EXCO and OpsCo, which I will keep you appraised of, as they take place.
However, there is one important leadership change that I wish to address in this communication.
Andy Searle’s tenure as CEO of BPESA comes to an end on 28th February 2022 and it gives me great pleasure to inform you that Reshni Singh, who we all know so well, has been appointed as our incoming CEO to take over from Andy Searle on 1 March this year.
The BPESA Board followed an extensive and very rigorous process to identify our new CEO. We set up a sub-committee to focus on this task and following an assessment of bids from three top agencies we contracted the services of Mindcor, who we felt best understood our business and requirements for the CEO role, and whose processes and track record was far superior to the others.
Mindcor went through a very rigorous, and wide approach of finding potential candidates with the right level of experience based on the job profile, and certain key requirements and elements that the subcommittee had determined. 54 prospective candidates were identified. They then went through a process of qualification within the subcommittee and a short list of 6 prospective individuals were identified. The subcommittee interviewed all 6 of those short-listed candidates and put forward nominations for the top two candidates for the Board’s consideration and vote. The vote, which took place in December, was informed by a detailed comparative assessment across four key dimensions of the role and a thorough psychometric evaluation.
Reshni has 20 years’ experience across the Department of Trade, Industry & Competition (DTIC)*, with extensive experience in the export and services sector, including general management, incentive fund administration, policy formulation, resource management, investment promotion, budgeting, strategic planning, stakeholder management, corporate governance and risk management in her existing role. She is a seasoned people leader with experience leading a large client facing team and she is hugely passionate about the development and employability of young people and women in the economy.
Reshni acquired a wealth of experience in the Global Business Services (GBS) sector in South Africa and has been providing guidance and support to global investors predominantly from the UK, USA and Australia and across various service verticals, over the past 15 years. She represents the DTIC on the Executive Committee and has been on our Board since its mobilisation in 2018. She has also played a role on the inter-Departmental Committee on Digital Skills.
Reshni graduated from the University of South Africa with a degree in commerce, majoring in Accounting and Business Management and subsequently obtained a Masters’ degree in International Business through the University of London.
Reshni is a great friend of BPESA, our partners, our members, and our network locally and in all our source markets. She has worked very closely with Andy and the operational team since 2017, building BPESA to the point it is today; and comes into the role as the key architect of our GBS Sector Master Plan, which she will now lead the team and sector to implement.
On behalf of the Board and all our BPESA stakeholders I’d like to congratulate Reshni and look forward to working with her to achieve our goals and ensure the continued success of BPESA and this wonderful sector.
Please join me in congratulating Reshni on her appointment!!
Last, but definitely not least, on behalf of the BPESA Board, I would like to express our deep appreciation for the remarkable job Andy has done in transitioning BPESA into a dynamic industry association, with a solid foundation. During Andy’s tenure of almost 5 years, he has made an immense contribution to the organisation, has significantly increased membership and has played a pivotal role in all that BPESA has achieved since 2018. As a leader he has helped take us through a period of incredible growth and change, while navigating the challenges faced, with the most significant being the Covid 19 pandemic – Andy fought tirelessly to obtain essential services status for the industry and continues to report to the Minister of Trade, Industry and Competition on the operational status of the sector. The board takes note of his efforts, perseverance and sacrifices made in accomplishing the industry’s objectives. Andy has also played a significant role in representing the industry’s contributions to the GBS Masterplan and has lobbied extensively to secure skills support for the sector.
We would like to wish Andy every success in his future endeavours.
Best regards
Zain Patel
BPESA Board Chair
