Introduction

Calvin Maseko
Director of Wholesale Banking, Standard Bank
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Calvin Maseko is the Executive Director and Head of Wholesale Banking for Standard Bank Swaziland. Prior to joining Standard Bank, Mr. Maseko was Deputy Managing Director and Head of Wholesale Banking for Stanbic Bank Tanzania. His key expertise is Corporate Banking and Credit Management and has been involved in a number structured finance transactions for Standard Bank across Africa. He has over ten years banking experience at senior management level. Before joining Stanbic Bank Tanzania, Mr. Maseko was Director Credit for Standard Bank based in South Africa, where he was responsible for Credit Evaluation and Administration for Standard Bank’s fifteen African countries excluding South Africa.

Before joining Standard Bank South Africa, Mr. Maseko was Vice President: Risk Management for ING Barings Bank for five years.

He holds an Honours Degree in Economics and a Masters in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa.

Leslie Johnston
Country Director, TechnoServe / Swaziland
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Ms. Leslie Johnston is the Country Director of TechnoServe / Swaziland, which officially launched the USAID-funded Swaziland Enterprise and Entrepreneurship Program in February 2006. Overseeing a staff of 10 and a budget of $8.9 million, Ms. Johnston is responsible for identifying, growing and developing Swazi-owned small and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) in order to create expanded employment and income opportunities for the country’s rural poor.

Prior to opening the TechnoServe office in Swaziland, Ms. Johnston was Director of New Business Development for TechnoServe / Mozambique. In that position she was responsible for formulating and implementing program strategy for driving economic growth through horticulture, tourism and wood products sector development. Ms. Johnston led the three-year USAID/Mozambique-funded Rural Enterprise and Financial Services program, managed TechnoServe’s USDA-funded Rural Enterprise Innovation Grant Fund, and directed a $1.5 million three-year mentorship program between Mozambican entrepreneurs and leading U.S. corporations such as Cargill, Liz Claiborne, and McKinsey & Company.

With contributions to USAID-funded projects in Mozambique, Jamaica, and Russia, she brings significant leadership and management experience with donor-funded programs – particularly in SME development. Ms. Johnston complements this experience with her business development and strategy background in technology and financial services, having served clients as a McKinsey & Company consultant across these two sectors. Ms. Johnston completed a Masters of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and a dual Bachelor’s degree in French and Political Economics from the University of California at Berkeley, including one year studying at the Institut d’Etudes Politiques in Grenoble, France. She graduated with highest honors (Phi Beta Kappa). She lives in Mbabane, Swaziland with her husband, Stuart, and infant son, Charlie.

Sylvia Mthethwa
Managing Director, Progress Stationery (Pty) Ltd
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Ms Sylvia Mthethwa is the Managing Director of Progress Stationery (Pty) Ltd and joint Managing Director of MS Industries (Pty) Ltd.  This, amongst other things, entails the control of a staff comprised of ten people in the diverse operations of the businesses. She is in control of a turnover in excess of E7m per annum.

She is a shareholder and director of Umgijimi (Pty) Ltd, holding company of Swaziland United Bakeries. She holds trusteeship of Ekupholeni Trust. She recently acquired equity in a property holding company Manzini Centre Properties (Pty) Ltd.

Ms Mthethwa is the latest addition to the Believe Begin Become Organising Committee. She has served in a number of boards. She joined the Association of the Swazi Business Community (ASBC) in 1999 where she also served as an Executive member. She is a founder member of Women Mean Business, in which she serves as an executive member. The organisation’s name has recently been changed to Sesikhona BoMake BakaNgwane.

In 2000 she was invited to join Southern African Enterprise Network, a network of business people in the SADC region. She joined the board of directors for the Voice of the Church, a Christian radio station in 2002. In 2003 nominated to the Board of Federation of Swaziland Employers and Chamber of Commerce.  

Ms. Mthethwa has won several awards in her career. In 2003 she was awarded the American Biological Institute’s Women of the Year. In 1999 she was a recipient of an award for the World Summit of Young Entrepreneurs held in New York. In 2002 she received an award in the local Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.  In 2006 she was crowned the Business Woman of the Year for the Entrepreneurial category.