Biography
Precious Moloi-Motsepe is the founder and executive chair of African Fashion International (AFI), an enterprise that comprises a fashion week event franchise, an e-commerce platform and a luxury boutique called House of Nala which opened in 2021 in Sandton, Johannesburg. Over the years, her investments in AFI have helped propel several African designers onto the international stage through pan-African events in South African cities. She has since expanded AFI to showcases in neighbouring countries such as Botswana and markets outside the region, such as a 2022 event in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
Born in the Soweto area of Johannesburg, Moloi-Motsepe is a trained doctor, who specialised in children’s and women’s health. Outside her business interests, she continues to promote health, well-being, education and economic empowerment through NGOs as well as philanthropic work of her own through the Motsepe Foundation which she co-founded in 1999. In 2007, she turned her attention to the creative industries and started AFI to help promote designer businesses from South Africa and the wider African continent. In 2018 she took over Melinda Gates’ post as co-chair of the Maverick Collective. Moloi-Motsepe was honoured as a Woman of Impact by Credit Suisse at the World Economic Forum in 2022. She is a council member of the Harvard Kennedy School Center for Public Leadership, a chancellor of the University of Cape Town and a member of The Giving Pledge.