TALK BUSINESS AND Kuseni Dlamini is in his element. He’s articulate – not just for short spurts, but for as long as you’re prepared to engage – unfl inchingly delivering a range of facts and opinions that explore all the facets of whatever is being focused on. He’s a good interview, not only because of his lucidity but because he really does know his stuff. It’s one of the traits that has undoubtedly stood him in good stead as he progressed through his university education, graduating from the University of Natal with a Bachelor of Social Science (cum laude) then winning a coveted Rhodes Scholarship to Oxford University, where he read for his Master of Philosophy degree between 1994 and 1996. And it would certainly have manifested when he got “invited for lunch” and offered his first job at De Beers – the kick-off of a 13-year career in leadership roles within the Anglo American Group. Today, the just-over-40 Dlamini is CEO of Old Mutual South Africa and Emerging Markets, a seat he is been in for just over a year, and without a blot on his copybook. He’s widely regarded as one of South Africa’s top business leaders, and is garnering global experience in the insurance and financial services sector. It is a logical place for him to be, having been named as one of the Young Global Leaders by the World Economic Forum in 2008 and, in the same month, being selected by MiningMX magazine as one of the top 100 most influential people in South African mining.

A natty dresser with a pleasant moon face, Dlamini might be a Sandtonite most of the time these days, but he has travelled extensively and has an impressively diverse portfolio. He has applied his skills to public policy, education and international relations and, indeed, WBS is proud to have him on its advisory board, where he helps to “position the school in the broader market, and ensure it remains relevant to the needs of the South African economy, Africa and the rest of the world”. Though he’s never attended a course at WBS, Dlamini says he feels privileged to be associated with the institution, which has produced some of the brightest stars in business locally as well as abroad. “The current dean of Stanford Graduate School of Business School, Garth Saloner, is a WBS graduate. So are a lot of CEOs of blue-chip companies on the JSE,” he smiles. Fitting the bill himself, Dlamini is a good example of how to climb the corporate ladder. KwaZulu-Natal born and bred, commerce wasn’t what he set out to train for as a young adult, but his notable intelligence earned him a top-class education, and his aptitude for it was honed quickly after that. A month after leaving Oxford, he was in the De Beers fold, serving in a number of senior management positions in the South African and the United Kingdom offices. In 2003, he joined AngloGold Ashanti’s Johannesburg offices as head of human resources, two years later becoming executive chairman of the Richards Bay Coal Terminal Company and, in 2008, taking over the reins as head of Anglo American. “The ability to adapt to different challenges is important.

Moving from mining to the financial services industry presented me with a sharp learning curve – this sector is more relaxed but more focused on intellectual capital, and a customer-centric culture is always in flux – but I’m passionate about learning. To perform well in business, you have to constantly reinvent yourself and broaden your horizons. Don’t be afraid of competition, competition is good,” he says. As CEO of Old Mutual, Dlamini’s style is accessible, forthright and pragmatic, and he is well aware of the potency of grouped talent in broadening the company’s reach – one of his primary goals at the moment being to penetrate further into Zimbabwe, Namibia, Malawi, Swaziland and Kenya. “Without people, this company wouldn’t be viable, so a lot of my focus is on talent management and building relationships of trust. We invest a lot in actuaries, accountants, managers and executives – people who are passionate about winning,” he says. Talking the talk in this milieu might seem a tad daunting at first to someone seasoned in the mining industry, with its different concepts, models and formulas. But it’s worth remembering that a big part of Dlamini’s mandate at Anglo was to manage relations with the South African government and ensure that transformation deals were equitably executed. Again, confi dence and diplomacy are Dlamini’s obvious strengths, and the reasons too for his ability to delegate and trust his team. Confidence, he posits, comes from “constantly punching above your weight” while engendering a “culture of modesty”.

“Your ambitions need to exceed your capabilities,” he says, adding that he is fortunate in having a “very supportive family, which enables me the time I need to put into my work”. For those in business, it also means “looking, from a global perspective, at what works”. “You shouldn’t be rooted only locally. It’s important to seek out appropriate networks across the globe, and to draw from the invaluable knowledge resources that are out there,” he says. Addressing the future, Dlamini indicates that, while Old Mutual’s results for the first half showed sales to be up by 17%, and a satisfying increase in profi ts, his pace is not about to slacken. “The rest of Africa accounts for 5% of our earnings, and I intend to double that by 2012 to 10%,” he says. Suffi ce to say, plenty more travel is on the agenda, including to Latin America and Asia, two business markets for which he is responsible. Looking at the bigger picture, Dlamini says the challenge for African countries is to accelerate their economic growth. “We need to see how we can reach double-digit growth rates, like India and China and the other BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) economies. The challenge for all of us is to work together towards a common objective.” His analysis of Old Mutual’s success reflects his thoughts on how that might be achieved. “We have a robust system of corporate governance, which uses very sound analysis to devise strategies going forward, and we respond quickly to events. We pride ourselves in offering good quality, and we’re not scared of competition. This is how we maintain an enduring emotional attachment to our customers.”