Who Are We
Xesibe Holdings (Pty) Ltd is a socially-grounded advisory, content development, and facilitation firm founded by development economist, columnist, speaker, radio personality, and policy analyst Ayabonga Cawe in 2016. The name ‘Xesibe’, is derived from the ‘amaXesibe’ people, a grouping among the amaXhosa people of South Africa, to which the founder belongs. Inspired by the rich heritage of this clan, and the African people generally, Xesibe Holdings provides professional services, curates vibrant content, and facilitates dialogue among different stakeholders in a refreshing and solutions-based manner.
We are a 100% black-owned firm, with commitment to empowerment and we are a Level 1 BBBEE Contributor.
Our Mission
Our mission is to offer impactful, professional, and efficient services that are geared to delivering value and building trust between us and our clients. Our work is to not only embolden our clients to make better decisions but also to communicate their work and those decisions to multiple audiences.
Our Vision
Our vision is to be a globally recognized, creative, innovative, and solutions-driven advisory and content platform delivering value and impact to our clients.
What We Do
Our service offering consists of research and advisory work, and facilitation services. At the helm of our company, are several professionals with a wealth of experience which forms the foundation of our company’s invaluable contribution to our clients. Below we list what these services involve
Research and Advisory
Xesibe Holdings provides speaking, facilitation, training,and workshop services in the areas of economic policy, empowerment, innovation,and enterprise development. Xesibe Holdings aims to provide well-researched, considered,and solutions-driven facilitation services that give effect to the age-old African tradition of ‘action’ informed by thorough-going and inclusive dialogue.
Content Development
An organisation approached us with the vision to produce a visual product illustrating the value of the work they have done with their partners over the years. They also wanted to highlight the specific interventions they provided to said partners. We were able to convert this vision into a quality video product, much to the delight of our client. We first conducted interviews with a wide range of relevant…
Facilitation
Xesibe Holdings provides speaking, facilitation, training, and workshop services in the areas of economic policy, empowerment, innovation, and enterprise development. Xesibe Holdings aims to provide well-researched, considered, and solutions-driven facilitation services that give effect to the age-old African tradition of ‘action’ informed by thorough-going and inclusive dialogue.
Our team is comprised of genuinely gifted minds:
Meet Our Team
Our team is characterised by depth of experience, entrepreneurial spirit, and a penchant for excellence. Our managers and associates have a wealth of project experience in research, consulting, policy development, business development, and training. They bring a wealth of post-graduate experience to client engagements.
Ayabonga is a Johannesburg based development economist, columnist, broadcaster and activist. He is Managing Director of Xesibe Holdings (Pty) Ltd, a platform involved in advisory, facilitation and content development across a wide range of fields. He hosts MetroFMTalk on MetroFM and he also writes a regular column for Business Day. Ayabonga has worked as Economic Justice Manager at Oxfam South Africa (OZA) working on policy advocacy and research. He has also worked as an Associate Consultant at Dalberg Global Development Advisors, a global development strategy consulting and policy advisory firm.
He has experience in economic research, policy and supply chain analysis, labour markets, advocacy and development program design . He has taken part in a wide range of research, advisory and policy engagements on development issues in agriculture, inequality, urban design and labour market policy. His international experience on issues of sustainability and business includes conducting primary research with farmer organizations in Indonesia, for a multilateral client. He has also conducted primary research in Nigeria, for a market entry strategy on behalf of a global pharmaceuticals manufacturer. Ayabonga sat on the National Minimum Wage Advisory Panel appointed by the Deputy President and Nedlac in 2016, which advised on the R20/hour proposal and the VAT zero-rating review panel, tasked by the Minister of Finance in 2018, to consider the expansion of the list of food and non-food items exempted from value-added tax. Ayabonga is a member of the Presidential Economic Advisory Council, chaired by President Cyril Ramaphosa.
He is a Sessional Lecturer at the School of Economic and Business Sciences at Wits University and holds an M. Com (Cum Laude) in Development Theory and Policy from Wits.
Young professional who is skilled in the areas of development research, videography, photography, video editing as well as digital marketing. At Xesibe Holdings, he assists in videography/photography both on location and in post-production to produce photographic/videographic content for clients as well as the business itself. He also manages the company's social media websites and its digital marketing. Lastly, he also assists with research projects either doing research or transcribing interviews. The quirky thing about him is his goofy sense of humor and personality.
Also a great artist with an ear for good sound. HipHop being his genre and poetic nuance with creative edge. Majored in Philosophy and studied disciplines like Politics, Public Management & Psychology. The main focus of this degree deals with Development Theory in how government institutions function and the ideologies they adopt to organise their economies.
Lisa Sofute is an Executive Assistant and all-around communicator at Xesibe Holdings. She is passionate about connecting with people and being of service to others which reflects in her experience in various customer service industries namely; healthcare, travel and corporate.
Merging her passion for travel she has worked in the Middle East, learning and developing her skill set directly related to Administrative support. Having studied in the field of media, her interests and other passion combines her love of music with writing and broadcasting news at her local radio station.
Jean-Marie Lethabo Nkome is a 3rd-year BCOM Marketing student whose interests include digital marketing, fashion, music and self-help books. She believes in making decisions that contribute to one's future on a daily basis. Her experience spans influencing, sales, digital
marketing and administration. She is the Community Manager at Xesibe Holdings.
marketing and administration. She is the Community Manager at Xesibe Holdings.
We’ve worked with a number of brands and businesses,
We have developed synergistic, goal-oriented, and long-term relationships across sectors and regions in the public sector, private sector, and local and national governments. Some of our clients, past and present, include:
