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Dr. Precious Moloi-Motsepe

Founder and Executive Chair, African Fashion International

The founder of African Fashion International is giving designers across the continent pan-African exposure through events, retail outlets and high-profile business networks.

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.

Vital Statistics

Born
2 August 1962
Nationality

South Africa

Location
South Africa
Member since
2022

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What is The BoF 500?

The people shaping the global fashion industry, curated by the editors of The Business of Fashion, based on nominations and on-the-ground intelligence from around the world.