Ketso Gordhan

CEO at SA SME Fund

Panellist

Ketso is the CEO of the SA SME Fund. He has considerable experience in the private equity and impact investing space, both as an investor and fund manager.

Since joining the SA SME Fund in September 2018, Ketso has been responsible for the strategic repositioning of the SA SME Fund, specifically the focus on supporting SMEs through investing in Fund Managers that focus on venture capital, growth capital and impact investing and an industry-leading mandate that 50% of all funds deployed by the SA SME are into Black African businesses.

Prior to joining the SA SME Fund, Ketso held the following positions:

• Commonwealth Development Corporation (2014-2016) - Head of Africa.
• PPC Cement (2012-2014) - Chief Executive Officer.
• The Presidency, Government of South Africa (2009-2010) - Advisor.
• FirstRand Financial Services Group (2000 -2009) - Head of Private Equity.

In addition to the expertise above, Ketso was the first post-apartheid Director General in the Ministry of Transport; the City Manager for the City of Johannesburg during 1999-2000; and an advisor to the Minister for Monitoring and Evaluation in the Presidency in 2009-2010. In the latter role, he sought to develop and institute performance outcome metrics and targets for all government ministries.

Ketso is passionate about impact investing and manages a personal investment portfolio with a focus on education in SA and Rwanda. Ketso also served as Africa advisor to the Omidyar Network.

Previous Advisory Board/ Board positions: Ketso has served on numerous private sector, foundation and non-profit boards.

Qualifications: BA (Politics and Sociology), M.Phil. (Development Studies)