The South African businessman in charge of the UK government’s R23 billion investment pot

Leslie Maasdorp is the current CEO of British International Investment (BII), a development financial institution of the UK Government, after serving across South Africa’s private and public sectors.

Maasdorp’s career traces back to the trade union movement in apartheid-era South Africa. He went on to serve several key roles within South Africa’s democratic-era government.

He earned a BA in Economics and Psychology from the University of the Western Cape, and an MSc from the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS).

He served as a special advisor to the Minister of Labour Tito Mboweni at the dawn of South Africa’s democracy.

He would become the Deputy Director General of the now-defunct Department of Public Enterprises.

He played a key role in restructuring and privatising several state-owned enterprises following the democratic elections, which included preparing Telkom for its listing on the JSE.

In 2002, he was the first African to be appointed International Adviser to Goldman Sachs International. He contributed to the firm’s strategic decisions and operations in emerging markets.

Maasdorp co-founded Yard Investment Holdings, a private equity fund company based in Sandton, in 2005.

He was then appointed as the Vice-Chairman of Barclays Capital and the South African subsidiary Absa Capital.

He also served as the President for Southern Africa at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, focusing on growing the bank’s presence in the region.

He also served as the CEO of JSE-listed private educator provider AdvTech from 2014 to 2015. The company owns Crawford International, Varsity College and more.

In July 2015, Cabined appointed Maasdorp vice president to represent South Africa at the New Development Bank in Shanghai, China.

The New Development Bank is a multilateral development bank established by the first five BRICS members, intending to mobilise resources for infrastructure and development projects.

He was appointed CFO by the Bank and was a founding Management team member. He was responsible for treasury, accounting functions and portfolio management.

He was also in charge of managing the Bank’s credit rating and was a member of its Investment Committees.

Upon the expiration of his contract, Maasdorp was reappointed by Cabined for a second term of three years.

Having established the global and domestic bond programmes, he raised over $15 billion during his tenure as CFO. He departed the renamed BRICS bank in July of last year.

Outside of his permanent roles, he served on the Binance Global Advisory Board in 2022, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume.

He also held board positions at Absa, Telkom, Johnic, HCI, Cell C, Pangbourne Properties Ltd and Prescient Asset Management.

British International Investment

Maasdorp was appointed CEO of the BII at the end of 2024. Established in 1948, the BII invests about 1 billion pounds (roughly R23 billion) per year in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.

It is the UK government’s primary vehicle for delivering climate finance in emerging markets and has investments in roughly 1,600 companies in 65 countries.

It also invests in financial services, healthcare, and technology and focuses on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) standards.

Upon Maasdorp’s appointment, BII Chair Diana Layfield said that his unique perspective and leadership qualities would build on the work of the outgoing CEO Nick O’Donohoe.

“His lived experience of many of our markets, his values and his deep personal passion for development will be immensely valuable as we continue to respond to the environmental, economic and social needs of our markets,” said Layfield.

Maasdorp, who studied in London, was delighted to return to the city. He said that development finance institutions play a key role in the sustainable development of emerging economies.

“The private sector is the principal engine of economic growth and prosperity. BII plays a vital role in supporting economies to grow, create jobs and raise living standards in Africa, Asia and beyond,” he said.