Business
The most powerful people in African business 2012
Cyril Ramaphosa: Executive Chairman, Shanduka Group
Ramaphosa, 59, is one of South Africa’s most powerful figures in business and politics.
His first taste of power was in the 1980s as a trade union leader in South Africa when he founded the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) to improve the rights of black African workers.
In the early 90s, he was elected as secretary general of the country’s leading political party, the African National Congress (ANC).
He quit politics and embarked on a career in business.
Today, his privately-held and highly influential investment holding company, Shanduka Group owns substantial stakes in South African mining giant, Assore, Standard Bank, CocaCola Shanduka – (a joint venture with CocaCola), insurance, telecom and extensive real estate holdings.
