Matsi Modise

Ms. Matsi Modise is the Managing Director of SiMODiSA Start-Up , an industry association who’s mission is to accelerate entrepreneurship by collaborating with policy makers to enhance the success rate of high impact, high growth entrepreneurs. She is the former National Executive Director of the South African Black Entrepreneurs Forum (SABEF) and is an avid entrepreneurship activist. She is the founder of Furaha Afrika Holding (Pty) Ltd, a Pan-African advisory company that focuses on enterprise and business development solutions.

Her experience ranges from Investment Banking at Investec Bank Ltd, and Enterprise Development advisory with South African banks, institutions of higher learning and corporate entities. She has coached numerous small business owners in remote areas of South Africa to increase skills and capacity in small businesses.

She currently sits on the board of the Free State Land Use Advisory Board; Agri-Vie Fund as a trustee; The Innovation Hub as a Non-Executive Director and Start Up Nations South Africa. She is a member of the Institute of Business Advisors. She is a subcommittee member of the South African Venture Capital/ Private Equity Association (SAVCA) and the South African Bureau of Standards (SABS) Innovation Management committee.

She is a World Economic Forum (WEF) founding curator of the Soweto Global Shapers Hub in Gauteng, South Africa, and in September 2014, she was acknowledged at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting of New Champions, in Tianjin China by Professor Klaus Schwab (founder of the WEF) for her contribution to entrepreneurship development in South Africa’s underserved communities. In January 2016, she was selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) as one of the Top 50 Global Shapers to attend the WEF Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Matsi is the South African Chapter Head of the Pan-African foundation, Africa 2.0 and a mentor for numerous young entrepreneurs and business owners in South Africa. She is a thought leader on entrepreneurship ecosystems and is a regular contributor on CNBC Africa, Forbes Woman African and numerous online, print and broadcast media platforms.

Matsi was awarded the Coca –Cola Young Achiever of the year award at the Women In Leadership – Africa Summit 2013. She represented South Africa at the African Union 50th Jubilee celebration in Ethiopia and was part of a Youth Forum that engaged with various African leaders such as Kenya’s Uhuru Kenyatta, Zambian past President Kenneth Kaunda, Liberia’s President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. She also recently represented South Africa at the Pan African Youth Summit in Kigali, Rwanda.