The London Speaker Bureau Africa
opens for business

The London Speaker Bureau is delighted to announce the opening of its latest office, in South Africa.

Managed by Lucinda Swan, with Joerg Nawrocki as a new consultant, The London Speaker Bureau Africa is based in Cape Town. The boom in commodities and the increase in oil prices have led to Africa becoming increasingly important to the world economy. Leaders in African countries are looking to best practice in governance and management from around the globe in order to grow their economies and build civil society most effectively. We represent a number of leading African speakers:

Mamphela Ramphele is executive chair of Circle Capital Ventures, a Cape town-based black economic empowerment company, a former managing director of the World Bank and former vice chancellor of Cape Town University, the first woman to hold this post.

Nkosinathi Biko is the son of Steve Biko, leader of the black consciousness movement of the 1960s and 1970s, who was killed while in police custody in 1977, when Nkosinathi, his eldest son, was six. Nkosinathi Biko is now CEO of the Steve Biko Foundation, which seeks to promote dialogue about government policy, culture and race relations; and he is also on the board of a number of non-profit organisations seeking to solutions to questions such as how best to create affordable housing and encourage local entrepreneurs.

FW de Klerk engineered the end of apartheid and negotiated the peaceful handover of power to democratic rule and the African National Congress. De Klerk shared the Nobel Peace prize with Nelson Mandela in 1993 and was one of the deputy presidents of South Africa during Mandela's presidency until 1996.

An Inspirational Book

Oliver Chittenden, manager of The London Speaker Bureau in France, is about to publish his first book, Inspire, in which he profiles some of the UK's most talented and courageous individuals. Through a series of face-to-face interviews, Oliver offers insight into the minds of these inspired and inspiring people. The text, with a foreword by Sir Richard Branson, is illustrated with specially-commissioned portraits by the photographer Sam Pelly.

Oliver's subjects include the adventurer Bear Grylls; the athlete Dame Tanni Grey Thompson; the explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes; the rower Sir Matthew Pinsent; the creator of the Eden Project Tim Smit; the BBC reporter John Simpson; and the former Beirut hostage Terry Waite. There is also a tribute to Jane Tomlinson, whose courage in raising £1.5 million for charity through a series of athletic challenges when she was dying of cancer epitomises the spirit that runs through these pages. The London Speaker Bureau is pleased to sponsor this exciting project.

Thought Leaders - The Global Credit Crunch

How will the current economic crisis impact on global business? Marvin Zonis, Professor at the University of Chicago, and an expert on international economics and politics believes that, "Most of us will survive. The question is what our survival will look like". Michael O'Sullivan, who has taught finance and economics at Oxford and Princeton universities and is the author of "Ireland and the Global Question" says "amid the intensity of the credit crisis, the Irish economy has become the first in Europe to drop into recession."

Recent events from our speakers

Michael Douglas, the actor, producer and social and environmental campaigner gave a series of four talks for senior global audiences from IBM Worldwide in Bermuda, hosted by fellow Hollywood actor Cuba Gooding, Jnr. The theme of his talk was 'Moments of Peace,' and he spoke about his life in the entertainment industry and his work for the UN as a Messenger of Peace.

Sahar Hashemi, the co-founder of Coffee Republic, recently took part in a panel discussion at a conference organized by Deutsche Bank in Frankfurt on the theme of 'Building Your Own brand The Role of Women in Management.'

Renee Mauborgne, author of Blue Ocean Strategy, which sold a million copies in its first year and has now been published in 41 languages, spoke at the Premier Business Leadership Series for SAS India, in Mumbai. She explained the ideas in the book, which explores how to identify and move into unknown, hitherto unexploited market space where competition is minimal, offering scope for rapid and profitable growth. The event was arranged by our India office, managed in Delhi by Meghna Rakshit.

Lord (Eddie) George, the former governor of the Bank of England, was recently invited to speak on the global economy at a dinner in Dublin organised by one of the "Big Four" accountancy firms for 30 major clients. It was organised by Mary Menton, director of our Dublin office.

John D Liu is an American who has lived in Beijing for 30 years and speaks on the environment and climate change. Since helping to create the CBS News bureau in Beijing, he has made films for television companies around the world. He gives a remarkable presentation using slides and video, showing how the Loess Plateau in China - an area the size of Belgium - which had been totally deforested and rendered virtually inert, has been completely replanted is capable of supporting the local population. John has presented to governments in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Kenya, showing how the same techniques can be used to reverse the devastating effects of climate change and feed the local population.