Motsilili “Shakes” Motsilili

Shakes Motsilili co-founded Alumni Energy Investments in 2017 and has spearheaded much of the innovation the company is known for.  Mr Motsilili has a strong academic background: he was the first black person to come in the top ten of the science Olympiad, which he did as a matric in 1994. He went on to become the first Black person to pass the University of Pretoria Actuarial Examinations.

He joined Momentum Life, where several promotions placed in him the position of head of Actuarial Investment Administration Services, where he catered to the bespoke investment needs of some of South Africa’s most demanding ultra-high net wealth clients. In 2011, he  started lobbying for better tax treatment of angel investing in South Africa. The team’s persistence behind the scenes paid off when the Minister of Finance announced a full deduction against income for South African taxpayers into Venture Capital Companies under a revised Section 12J of the Income Tax Act of 1962.

Mr Motsilili has been involved in digital currencies and has worked with SARS to bring digital currency profits into the tax net as well as liaising with top level officials to improve the effectiveness of Section 12J. He has also used his considerable influence to obtain tenders in the telecoms, clean energy, sustainable development and tax administration areas for both corporates and working with national, provincial and local governments.