Regarded as one of the most influential women in business in South Africa, Hixonia Nyasulu is the Founder of Ayavuna Women’s Investments (Pty) Ltd, a women-controlled investment vehicle. She is currently a Senior Independent Director at Vivo Energy Plc, a Non-Executive Director at Anglo-American Plc and a board member at Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).
Before founding Ayavuna in 2004, she ran T.H. Nyasulu & Associates, a strategy, marketing and research company she started in 1984, where she remains Chairman.
A highly experienced non-executive director, Hixonia has served on the boards of several South African blue-chip companies such as McCarthy Group Ltd, Anglo Platinum Ltd (world’s biggest platinum producer), and Nedbank Ltd, where she became deputy chairman. She was also a member of the JPMorgan Advisory Board until October 2013.
Prior to her appointment as Chairman of Sasol Ltd in 2004, she served as Director of the Company for 7 years. She also served 9 years on the Board of Unilever PLC/NV.
She served as a member of the Banking Enquiry Panel, appointed by the South African Competition Commission and was a founding member of the Advisory Group formed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to set up a community of global chairmen.
Since 2016, she is the owner and Executive Producer of “H to the power of You”, a Leadership and Talent development TV show, which has broadcast to 48 African countries on the CNBC Africa channel.
A South African national, Hixonia has an Honours Degree in Psychology from the University of Zululand. She holds an Executive Leadership Development Programme Certificate from the Arthur D Little Management Education Institute in Massachusetts. She attended the International Programme for Board Members at the world-renowned Institute of Management Development (IMD) in Lausanne, Switzerland.