Rosalind Thomas | Managing Director And Chief Executive Officer
SAEx International Management

Rosalind is currently the Managing Director of SAEx International Management Ltd, Mauritius (SIML) and its subsidiary, SAEx South Africa (Pty) Ltd.  SIML is the Sponsor of the SAEx Southern Oceans Network (“SAEx SON”) submarine fibreoptic cable projects, comprised of the South Asia Express (“SAEx East”) segment, a planned telecoms subsea cable project between Singapore and South Africa, and the South Atlantic Express segment (“SAEx West”), a planned westerly system linking South Africa to the Americas. She has developed and managed these two projects since November 2014, investing personal funds, dedicating time and resources (a personal investment ≤$8 million) in taking them towards Financial Close, expected to be achieved in mid-2023 (for East) and mid-2024 (for West). In the process gaining the confidence and support of leading multinational corporations, consultants and advisors, and is respected for her ingenuity, commitment and tenacity in an industry characterized by projects with long gestation periods.

She is recognized internationally for an understanding of the private sector's role in African infrastructure financing and was the first African (and second woman) on the world-wide Technical Advisory Panel of the World Bank's Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility (PPIAF), reporting at the time to 15 donors on PPIAF’s performance in facilitating infrastructure PPPs in the developing world.  Rosalind has demonstrated leadership in development finance with an extensive knowledge of key regional investment issues in Africa, having been a Director at the African Development Bank in Tunisia (AfDB); founding CEO of the SADC Development Finance Resource Centre (DFRC), in Gaborone, Botswana, where she was task managed a 2-phase/3-year feasibility study for the SADC Project Preparation and Development Fund (PPDF) for regional infrastructure investment projects. At the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) (1990-2005) she was awarded Manager of the Year in the Finance Complex and received the CEO Award for outstanding achievement as Head of the Risk Management Unit (1998-2002). In her earlier role as a Policy Program Manager and Director of the Centre for Policy Analysis at the Bank (1993-1997), she won the prize for 3 years in succession for the most successful and influential policy program on International Economic Relations of South Africa in respect of the country’s membership of the WTO, and relationships with the EU, post-apartheid.

She has a PhD in International Economic Law from the University of Witwatersrand (South Africa); An MA in International Economics and Law from the Johns Hopkins University’s Paul Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C.; has carried out post-graduate studies at Harvard (HIID) and Yale Universities, the University of Cambridge (UK); and completed studies at the Hague in the Netherlands; the International Development Law Institute in Rome, Italy; and the René Cassin International Institute for Human Rights (Strasbourg, France) where she gained a Diploma in International Human Rights Law.    During her studies, Rosalind was awarded six scholarships for educational excellence.

She has authored more than 25 professional publications, presented at ≥40 international professional conferences, held numerous university guest lectureships in the UK, USA and South Africa, and has participated in various consulting studies.