10 January 2006

Five South Africans have been included in the World Economic Forum's 2006 Forum of Young Global Leaders, announced in Switzerland on Monday.

The South Africans are Cyrille Nkontchou, founder and chief executive officer of LiquidAfrica (Pty) Ltd; Brian Molefe of the Public Investment Corporation; Paul Kapelus, CEO of the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship; Wits University's Raenette Taljaard; and Sunday Times editor Mondli Makhanya.

Unique community
The Forum of Young Global Leaders is an independent, Geneva-based foundation that seeks to build a unique community of the world's most extraordinary leaders under the age of 40 and give them a platform to collaborate and shape best practices for the future of the world.

This year's almost 200 Young Global Leaders have been drawn from 50 countries from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.

They were chosen from 3 500 candidates by a nominating committee headed by Queen Rania of Jordan and ratified by the chairman of the World Economic Forum's board, Professor Klaus Schwab.

The 2006 Young Global Leaders will join the 2005 group in a series of forums and workshops to understand current and future trends, risks and opportunities at global and regional levels.

These sessions form part of the ongoing 2020 Initiative, a comprehensive effort by the Forum of Young Global Leaders to address the complex challenges of today in order to help shape a better future for the world.

South Africa's 2006 Young Global Leaders

	Paul Kapelus is a founding director of the African Institute of Corporate Citizenship and currently holds the position of CEO.
	Mondli Makhanya is the editor of the Sunday Times, recently returning from a stint as editor of the Mail & Guardian. He started his career in journalism at the Weekly Mail in 1990, and is on the national council of the South African National Editors' Forum.
	Brian Molefe has been CEO of South Africa's Public Investment commission since July 2003. He was previously deputy director-general of asset and liability management at South Africa's national treasury, and chief director of strategic planning in the office of the premier of Limpopo.
	Cameroonian-born Cyrille Nkontchou started Johannesburg-based LiquidAfrica, an online trading site that allows global investors to buy and sell stocks across Africa, in 2000.
	Raenette Taljaard is a senior lecturer at the School for Public and Development Management at the University of the Witwatersrand. She is the youngest woman ever elected to South Africa's Parliament, where she was the spokesperson for the opposition on a number of key committees before stepping down from her seat in late 2004.

Eight South Africans represented the country on the 2005 Young Global Leaders Forum:

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	Young Global Leaders  World Economic Forum

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