He represents an emerging generation of black corporate leaders charting this country’s future economic landscape

Ask Kuseni Dlamini, chief executive officer of Old Mutual Emerging Markets, to talk about himself and his personal life, and he shies away, refusing to open the window even just a little.

But ask him to talk about his company and business, and about South African and global business issues in general, and he becomes vocally impassioned, talking with energetic conviction and impressive authority.

Yet, Dlamini is on record saying his style is to be visible, having moved his office from what he calls “the stuffy confines of the fifth floor” to the hustle and bustle of the ground floor, where he maintains an open-door policy.

He may be less visible, though, to the public at large than some of his ‘celebrity’ counterparts because of his desire to shun personal publicity – but in the business world, Dlamini is well known as the man who heads up one of the largest financial services groups in Africa and a growing global reach, having made the switch in September 2009 from a career previously set largely in mining.

He was the head of Anglo American’s South African operations; and before that, held the position of executive chairperson of Richards Bay Coal Terminal Company (RBCT), and a number of senior positions at AngloGold Ashanti and De Beers Consolidated in South Africa and the United Kingdom.

Dlamini graduated cum laude from the University of Natal with a BSocSci (honours) degree and was a Rhodes scholar at Oxford University, where he read for his MPhil.

In 2008, he was named one of the “Young Global Leaders” by the World Economic Forum (WEF); and the Mail & Guardian named him one of the top 200 young people worth taking to lunch.

Dlamini is active in professional bodies, including the South African Institute of International Affairs and the Advisory Board of Wits Business School.

Meanwhile, with a market capitalisation of some R71 billion, Old Mutual’s roots remain firmly in South Africa, despite growing global exposure and a plc address in London.

A year after joining Old Mutual, when commenting on the transition from mining to financial services, Dlamini said he saw similarities between Anglo and Old Mutual – both being historically deeply entrenched in South Africa, now being multinationals domiciled in London.

His face is becoming recognisable on the global business stage. He has recently been seen both at local and international gatherings of great importance, such as at the first BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa economic group) meeting attended by South Africa in China, the United Nations’ global climate talks in Copenhagen, the WEF in Davos, Switzerland, and as a co-chair of the Africa Summit in Tanzania.

He has even braved going up against the ANC Youth League’s firebrand advocate for nationalisation of mines, Julius Malema, in a debate with him and Business Day columnist, Tim Cohen.

Meanwhile, it is not only the CEO’s office that has changed at Old Mutual since Dlamini took over from Paul Hanratty.

Traditional narrow bottom-line reporting went out the window and in came moves to integrate sustainability considerations into the firm’s business as proposed in the King III report. This led to Dlamini presenting, as a first step, the insurance giant’s first sustainability report, which replaced the corporate citizenship dossier previously issued annually.

“This report aims to cover the material social and environmental issues that affect us as a financial services company,” he said at the time, shortly after taking over the helm at Old Mutual.

In tandem with this kind of approach and thinking, much has been happening lately at Old Mutual that is not usually associated with the traditional view held by many people, of an old financial services company assumed to be filled with conservative number-crunching accounting and actuarial types.

For instance, its Masisizane Fund is co-operating with Durban’s eThekwini Municipality to outsource the city’s grass-cutting operations to 75 co-operatives; 1 000 Old Mutual staff members are joining forces with Habitat for Humanity South Africa (HFHSA) to build 14 homes in three provinces; the company is providing development finance to promote enterprise development in the Eastern Cape; Old Mutual Unit Trusts, in partnership with al Baraka Bank and Channel Islam, has launched a Shari’ah-compliant asset allocation fund; the company has launched a nationwide scholarship initiative, Imfundo Trust, to address the shortage of black investment professionals and grow the pool of suitably qualified individuals in the asset management industry; two new property funds run by black-owned management companies will get under way in 2011, with backing from Old Mutual Investment Group Property Investments; the company has introduced an innovative new approach to socially responsible investing; and it has participated in tree-planting initiatives, among many other activities.

With South Africa emerging from the recent global and local recessions, Dlamini is concerned about current challenges facing this country and “how we are responding to them”.

Yet, he excitedly displays maximum optimism about the outlook for business in South Africa and for Africa in general.

“BRICS, for example, is a fantastic opportunity for this country,” he says. “Also, what we are seeing in the rest of Africa is very encouraging, and the recent World Economic Forum on Africa Summit held in Cape Town has again shown our continent is a giant awakened.”

When asked where he sees Old Mutual in the South African and the global business picture today, Dlamini says that in the 166 years Old Mutual has been in existence, it has survived a number of challenging changes, both in the local and the global economies.

“We really believe we have what it takes to be there for the South African customer, to understand their needs better, to proactively respond to them by developing products and services that add value to their lives,” he states.

“So we really see ourselves at the centre of the South African economy; we see ourselves at the forefront of the insurance industry, building a customer-centric company that is very much in tune with the needs of the customer. We believe if we are serving our customers better, we will be serving our society better.

“We also take pride in working together with other development and finance role-players in the South African economy, like the Development Bank of Southern Africa,” Dlamini adds.

“I would like to make sure that Old Mutual is a positive force for the growth and development of South Africa, contributing to high-level growth that is empowering and inclusive.”

As far as emerging markets are concerned, he says Old Mutual now has a presence in 10 countries across three continents, namely Africa, Latin America and Asia.

“We are very excited about our prospects in emerging markets and we believe that we can leverage our capabilities in South Africa in order to grow and expand our emerging market business. We continue to look for new opportunities in emerging markets where appropriate, and that will unlock value for our shareholders,” Dlamini notes. “We are also in three of the five BRICS countries.”

Investing in emerging markets sometimes means additional risks not common in developed economies. An example is Zimbabwe where Old Mutual, like other foreign-owned companies, is exposed to ongoing political and economic problems, specifically the recent demand that foreign businesses there hand over a majority stake in their operations to Zimbabweans.

Dlamini says “the country is going through challenging times politically”, and that Old Mutual is monitoring the situation closely.

“We hope the country will evolve politically, in such a way that we will have the comfort and confidence at the right time to feel compatible with investing our shareholders’ money in that country.”

Asked if he is confident of a positive outcome in Zimbabwe and whether Old Mutual’s interests there can be safeguarded, he says he hopes the outcome of efforts by the Southern African Development Community and the South African government will bear fruit and that the various political players will work in a united and constructive manner.

Dlamini believes a positive solution is required in the best interests of the region and South Africa, saying neither can prosper if Zimbabwe itself does not progress, and continues to have the kind of problems it has been facing.

“It is in the interest of business to have political stability in Zimbabwe, to have policies that are clear, predictable and stable so that we are able to plan in a positive environment,” Dlamini says.

Asked whether he was concerned about some of the policy noises currently being made in South Africa, and how leading business players such as Old Mutual would deal with it, he says it is imperative that, within the free flow of ideas and policy debates of a democracy, “we make sure that all of us in South Africa – and in Africa – craft and promote policies that will attract massive foreign direct investment, and that we also promote policies that will encourage the growth of our domestic economy.”

Dlamini continues: “We also need to benchmark our policies against world-class policies from countries that have managed to achieve a significant and visible measure of economic success. In that way, we will be able to create jobs, alleviate poverty and build a strong and sustainable economy.”

When debating the issue of nationalisation with Malema and Cohen, Malema insisted that, because nationalisation of mines was prescribed in the Freedom Charter, it was therefore “a prerequisite for leadership in the ANC”, and had to be implemented.

Dlamini countered this by stating that while the Freedom Charter said the minerals under the soil belonged to all the people of South Africa, it did not necessarily state in what form this should be done. He argued that there are various ways in which the mineral wealth could be used for the broader public good, with nationalisation being but one option.

BRICS an opportunity

Dlamini attended the first BRICS meeting in China recently, following South Africa’s admission to the “club” consisting of Brazil, Russia, India and China, adding the ‘S’ to the abbreviation.

Comparing reactions of the other BRICS members and other countries to some of the debates in South Africa, questioning this country’s eligibility or otherwise for such membership, he says: “It seems to me that the rest of the world thinks South Africa qualifies and has all the attributes needed to be a member. It is now up to all of us to plan and strategise to come up with specific strategies to leverage BRICS as an opportunity.”

Membership of BRICS, says Dlamini, should be turned into an opportunity to attract foreign direct investment, and open up avenues for South African companies. It is a strategic opportunity that is unprecedented for this country.

“These countries want our commodities and we can also offer them our expertise in mining,” he notes.

He adds that the benefits of South Africa’s world-class financial services and banking sector can be shared with the BRICS countries.

Dlamini left Anglo American South Africa, after a 13-year association with the group, to join Old Mutual. At the time, the business media viewed his move as a blow to Anglo’s transformation process.

Soon after joining Old Mutual, he had this to say about transformation at his new employer: “We remain focused on improving transformation in the company, and have significantly improved measurements on employment equity and preferential procurement in 2009.

“To accelerate employment equity, we continue to make sure our current employees have the skills they need to ensure the future success of our business.

“Our people are central to the success of our business and deserve a culture that is enabling, empowering and supports their personal development. To facilitate this, in 2009 we set up a number of skills development programmes including a talent management programme.”

Dlamini is concerned about South Africa’s ability to develop and deliver a new generation of business leaders, saying the country should have national goals and targets in this respect. He cites countries such as Japan and Singapore, saying that “they send their sons and daughters to schools like Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge”.

”We can have companies, but if we don’t have the people to run them, what’s the point? If you go to the major business schools, one finds Indians, Chinese, Japanese and other people there – but very few Africans.”

Stef Terblanche