South Africa FlagCommunity =  Co-Creating Ecosystems | Trans4m Fellows

Loshnee Naidoo:
A Passion for Africa’s Development

“According to James Hollis ‘the purpose of life is not to be happy but to find meaning’. To find meaning we need to be self reflective about our history in order to CHOOSE our future.”

Loshnee NaidooMy career has been driven by my passion for socio-economic development of African continent. This is premised on my intense love, passion and belief in the African continent and its people.

This has led me to work extensively within the African developmental and investment environment. My twenty seven year journey has allowed me to develop knowledge and experience within the socio-economic and enterprise development. I have worked extensively in both the South African and African developmental and investment environments whilst at Spoornet, the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) and Sansara. Whilst at the IDC, I was involved in establishing public-public partnerships, public-private partnerships as well as government owned entities. In Spoornet and the IDC, I developed and reviewed investment programmes and business opportunities, and devised engagement strategies for host organisations and countries to enhance their footprint on the African continent. In South Africa this has entailed developing local socio-economic development strategies and models and the establishment and managing of entities to implement such strategies and models. At a project and/or investment level I have undertaken assessments of project/investment risks and economic viability with a view to establishing the merits of pursuing investment opportunities both in South Africa and the rest of the Continent

At PhD Module with Trans4m in Geneva, next to a sculpture of C.G. Jung
At PhD Module with Trans4m in Geneva, next to a sculpture of C.G. Jung

My personal journey of self discovery and growth led me to leave formal employ and commence my own company, Sansara (Flow of Life). My intention is to pursue more holistic socio-economic developmental models. This has resulted in my working with the communities to co-create development models that address their core needs. I am currently achieving this by working with the renewable energy companies and the communities surrounding these projects.

I intend for youth, and more specifically, women’s empowerment to become a core focus of my consultancy. My passion for socio-economic development and experience with developing such models would provide a platform to contribute to the field of gender and youth empowerment. I also intend for my research-to-innovation journey of understanding the ‘Impact of Economic Empowerment on Intimate Partner Violence’ to further enhance my ability to empower women and youth.

Loshnee Naidoo African Community Project of the Year
Winning the Award for African Community Project of the Year