Tony Leon – Keynote Speaker

Tony Leon is an author, columnist, speaker, Business Advisor and Executive Chairman at Resolve Communications,

He was the long serving Leader of the Opposition in South Africa and then appointed by President Zuma as South Africa’s Ambassador to Argentina, Uruguay and Paraguay in 2009.

Since returning from his three year post in Buenos Aires in 2012, Leon has been writing and thinking about matters affecting the world. He has a special interest in risk consulting on Africa and South America as well as navigating the intricacies of their booming markets. Leon provides one of the most highly sought after in-depth analyses of Africa, covering a range of issues from leadership and governance through to investment and public policy matters.

Leon also discusses the role of disruption in politics today, from Julius Malema in South Africa to Donald Trump in the US. He links disruption and populism in business and politics, creating a challenging picture of the current global scene.

For thirteen years he led the Democratic Alliance Party and its predecessor. He is the longest serving Leader of the Opposition in Parliament, since the advent of democracy in South Africa in 1994. He led and grew his party from its marginal position on the brink of political extinction into the second largest political force in South Africa.

A trained lawyer, Leon actively participated in the critical constitutional negotiations which led to the birth of a democratic South Africa and served as co-chairperson of the Constitutional Assembly’s Committee on Fundamental Rights. He has been at the forefront of national and international events, both as a front-ranking parliamentarian and as a Vice-President of Liberal International.

Leon has been widely published in academic journals and in the media and has authored articles for Time, The Spectator, Harvard Business Review, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Daily Telegraph. His latest book was The Accidental Ambassador – From Parliament to Patagonia.