Lynette Ntuli is the Founder and CEO of Innate Investment Solutions, a professional services firm headquartered in South Africa that provides property, asset, and infrastructure development and management solutions. She has held executive leadership positions in diverse sectors and serves as a non-executive director on the boards and working groups... Read more
Lynette Ntuli is the Founder and CEO of Innate Investment Solutions, a professional services firm headquartered in South Africa that provides property, asset, and infrastructure development and management solutions. She has held executive leadership positions in diverse sectors and serves as a non-executive director on the boards and working groups of various listed and unlisted organizations.
With 19 years of experience in the commercial built environment, Ntuli’s incisive insight into responsive socioeconomic models is an asset to holistic development solutions for emerging regions and high-growth sectors reliant on infrastructure (Retail, Telecoms, Health, Education, State-Owned Assets). She became the first woman in Sub-Saharan Africa to be GM of a multibillion-valued, super-regional shopping center (The Pavilion, 2008). Since then, she has been recognized as an internationally renowned business thought leader and strategist, passionate about Sustainability (ESG), people-centered governance, inclusive socio-economic development, and the transformative power of technology and innovation.
Her track record in the public, private, untransformed, and informal sectors, combined with best practice principles, has sharpened her competencies in Strategy, Research, Planning, and Project Implementation—key drivers of Service Delivery, Transformation, and Socio-Economic Development. She holds postgraduate property-specific qualifications from the University of Pretoria and the University of Cape Town GSB.
Tapping into her experiences and industry insights, Lynette regularly delivers business and technical keynotes and moderates a wide range of regional and international summits, forums, and events. In 2007, her passion for youth development led to the creation of IgniteSA.com, a youth-oriented digital media platform whose programs have been replicated nationally through various partner brands.
Through her work and advocacy, Ntuli extensively drives initiatives in Leadership and Economic Inclusion (with a gender lens), Entrepreneurship, and Skills Development in Sub-Saharan Africa on platforms her business curates and partners with. She has also presented and produced Business Day TV’s weekly show SME Funding and FNB’s Business Talk podcast series.
Lynette serves as a non-executive director of commercial entities, including the JSE-listed REIT Liberty Two Degrees and the Durban International Convention Centre. She has served in advisory capacities to several organizations such as First National Bank (KwaZulu-Natal), Coca-Cola Beverages SA ESD Programme, SAMIP, and SweetLife. Additionally, she has held leadership and committee roles within organizations such as the Women’s Property Network (WPN), South African Property Owners Association (SAPOA), South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP), South African Council of Shopping Centres (SACSC), International Women’s Forum (IWFSA), and the African Leadership Network.
In 2018 and 2021, Lynette was named a Institut Choiseul 100 Africa Laureate for her leadership and contributions to advancing economic development in Africa. She is a fellow and alumna of several distinguished institutions and programs:
Her accolades include the Fun Fearless Female Award by Cosmopolitan Magazine (2008), Mail & Guardian 200 Young South Africans Award (2012), Glamour Magazine Woman of The Year Award – Business (2014), and the SAIBPP 100 in recognition of her contribution to the property industry in South Africa (2022).
Ntuli is a past Chair of the Commonwealth Alliance of Young Entrepreneurs in Southern Africa (SADC), former Vice President of the South African Institute of Black Property Practitioners (SAIBPP), and Vice Chair of the Durban Chapter of the Businesswomen’s Association (BWA). She has also served as an Enactus National and World Cup Final Round Judge (2011-2018), a SACSC Retail Development and Design Awards RDDA Judge (2009), and a member of the Green Building Council of South Africa’s Technical Working Committee, which developed the first Commercial/Retail Green Star Tool, setting the foundation for Green Star Ratings adoption in Southern Africa.