Development Finance alumnus selected as Fellow at US university

PGD in Development Finance alumnus Octavius Phukubye was awarded and selected as a Hubert H. Humphrey Fellow for the 2018-2019 academic year where he will be based in Michigan State University from 8 August 2018 until 07 June 2019.

While completing his Humphrey year, he would be focusing on start-up incubations, entrepreneurship education, innovation and small business development. He intends to share these skills with his own organisation and partners to stimulate economic growth, sustainable employment and overall quality of life for his country. The Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program provides young and mid-career professionals from selected countries around the world with a non-degree programme combining academic, leadership development and professional experiences directly related to their professional responsibilities in their countries.

Octavius is the co-founder of Brillianaire Consulting, a niche management consulting firm that specialises in designing enterprise and supplier development strategies/programmes, execution of technical assistance support to deliver socio-economic shared value. He is a former Supplier Development Manager within Barclays Group Sourcing where he was responsible for leading investment and B-BBEE transformation projects that focused on technology (software, hardware, services and telecoms). He is also a former South African Breweries (SAB) Economic Development Manager who was responsible for the overall management of Enterprise Development, and Socio-Economic Development policies, strategies and programme. He was instrumental in developing the SAB’s Women in Maize programme for emerging yellow maize farmers; and also served as the Enterprise Development Specialist at SAB, directly responsible for the overall management of the KickStart entrepreneurship programme.

He is also the Co-Founder of Mohlotlo Thuto Foundation, an NPO that nurtures academic excellence at high schools through innovative educational interventions in Sekhukhune, Limpopo. He is a former Management Consultant at Accenture South Africa Consulting Unit. He holds a B.Com Accounting from the University of Limpopo and a Postgraduate Diploma in Development Finance from USB, where he is currently pursuing an MPhil in Development Finance.