Thebe Ikalafeng is a Hall of Fame global African branding authority and THE leading advocate for a brand-led African renaissance. He has been recognized as one of the 100 Most Influential Africans by New African Magazine, Most Influential People of Africa Descent (MIPAD) and Most Reputable Africans by Reputation International.

A trailblazing marketer, since being awarded a Marquette University American Marketing Association for marketing excellence upon graduation in 1992 in the United States, he has made a sustained, distinguished and consequential contribution to branding and in reframing the African narrative for over 30 years.

He is the founder of Brand Leadership Group, a multi-disciplinary branding advisory group at the intersection of strategy, creativity and law; the founder of the Brand Africa non-profit movement for a brand-led African agenda, and the ‘Brand Africa 100: Africa’s Best Brands’ initiative, widely referenced as the definitive barometer of brands in Africa.

A Fellow of the Institute of Directors (SA), he served 10 years on the board of WWF, 7 years on the board of the NYSE listed Cartrack, 10 years as deputy chairman on South African Tourism, and 15 years on the board of Portuguese CAIXA subsidiary, Mercantile Bank, among others. He’s a non-executive director at the Nedbank Green Trust and Population Services International (PSI).

He has been honored with Lifetime Achievement awards by Financial Mail AdFocus and Public Relations Institute of Southern Africa, an EMY Africa Special Recognition Award in Ghana for driving a brand-led African renaissance and a GQ Men of the Year “Industry Icon” award for his contributions to Africa, branding and culture.

In 2024, the University of Johannesburg and the University of South Africa conferred him with honorary doctoral degrees, PhD (Honoris Causa), for his contributions to Africa, branding and culture.

He has been to every country in Africa and every continent in the world from Cape to Cairo, and the Arctic in Greenland to Antarctica; trekked the rare silverback gorillas in Rwanda and Uganda; summited Mt. Kilimanjaro and Mt. Sinai, and jumped the 216m high Bloukrans Bridge bunjee in South Africa, among his many breath-taking adventures globally.

He was born and raised in Kimberley, South Africa and educated in the USA, Italy and South Africa. A Chartered Marketer (SA), he holds BSBA (cum laude), MBA and LLM (Intellectual Property Law) degrees.

A consummate pan-African, “Thebe is Africa,” (TedxGhana) and ‘the foremost branding authority in Africa,’ (African Business).

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IASP 2024 — Keynote Speakers