Chris Barker Email & Phone Number

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

We guide businesses on how to get immediate benefits from generative AI

South Africa

I run SA's leading critical thinking course, training executives and managers on how to think, a rare skill in SA. All covered here: www.Critical-Thinking.co.za

City Of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Africa on-shoring of pharmaceutical manufacture. USAID funded

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Head of Innovation (Disruptive Growth)

South Africa

I led large Deloitte teams, funded by USAID via Right-to-Care, to:- Grow medical oxygen supply by 6.5x- Double SA bed capacity- Help the NHLS build the country's testing capacity- Rollout the Sisonke HCW vaccine 'trial' (a mechanism to get vaccines rolling ahead of official registration)- Complete build of the SA vaccine program (SA's fastest business build in history, R40bn/yr, 5.5m doses/month, built in 4 intense months)

South Africa

Founded 12 start-ups, led 6 turnarounds, all in between a lot of top end strategy consulting work. See 'Accomplishments/Projects' section.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Built the first business to sell weather in Africa, largely based around realtimne alerts (nowcasting)• Dominated insurance, rail, and mining in SA• Built the highest grossing SA-developed app• Grew to an R70m valuation, and sold 50% to WeatherZone Australia (FDI deal), then exited 50% in 2020

Bhisho, Eastern Cape, South Africa

• Turned a brick factory for the NEF• Saved 800 jobs in extremely rural Bisho• Spent 2yrs completing the job I’d committed to• Sold to Corobrik by showing them the strategic importance of the deal

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Persuaded funders to invest still further• Three partners held the business in stasis for a year, pending a sale to a Chinese consortium• Required 30% cost cutting, and intense management of a business in deep distress

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

∙ Co-founded what at one stage was SA’s 3rd largest retail pharmacy (by COS value)∙ Strictly HIV drug to NGO’s∙ Wholly owned by myself and my (ex) wife∙ R120m turnover (2016 money), 5% EBIT

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Helped place the MD role• Helped dismantle the SA ISP monopoly which was being sustained through interconnect (transfer pricing) which we understood well• Today, SA’s internet rates are a direct result of this work (90% price drop over 6 months)

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• MTN acquired Investcom, 17 networks in the Middle East• Used my world-leading telecoms model to model all operators in each country• Diverse countries included Iraq, Afganistan, and Cyprus. My model is still used today in Deloitte

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Co-founded and built, initially pro bono, what is now Africa’s largest NGO with R1.7bn of funding FY21, over R7bn dispersed without fraud• Pioneered every aspect of HIV treatment in SA• We run the largest (Px numbers) treatment centre in the world, out of Helen Joseph Hospital• 25% of SA’s HIV patients are treated by our network of 400 clinics• I was USAID's appointed board member to RTC from Jan-03 to June-06

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Onderstepoort Biological Products is the state animal vaccine institute• Worked with CEO (later SA Met Office CEO) to turn from loss to profit

Rustenburg, North-West, South Africa

∙ Took over management of Marikana pit for 6months, and replaced entire mining contractor∙ Turned the pit from R20m/month loss, to R10m/month profit (2005 money)∙ Substantive impact on share price

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Pioneered thinking on why companies should offer paid treatment to HIV+ employees, covered in numerous business publications• Built the biz to deliver this anonymous service, for Alexander Forbes, with equity• The B2B sales process resulted in me presenting to near 150 of SA’s top boards, experience which few others will ever have∙ Led world-first treatment of employees (in Anglo). ∙ 100k employees across 40 client companies. Led sales and operations. ∙ R25m turnover (2016 money)

• Bid leadership team, for MTN, during the final days of GSM license auctions in Africa/Middle East• Spent several months in Dubai• Was entrusted with bid submission, incl carrying the highly confidential bid envelope ($27bn – more than MTN’s market cap at the time). Carrying the envelope made me a KnR target

South Africa

• Won the bid for 19% BEE stake in SA's second fixed line license• Built a national fixed line telecoms model that BT stated was of “operator standard”• Worked with the 2 BEE leads to form SA’s first truly BBBEE deal (1.4 million beneficiaries)• Raised R2bn funding in what was then SA’s largest BEE deal to date• Neotel was sold to Liquid Telecoms in 2017 for R6.5bn

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

• Helped CSIR design a Biotech incubator. On panel to screen in starting initiatives & hire first CEO

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

McKinsey needed me to work on an SAA project, and contracted me back as EMI was told that this was the first time McKinsey global had ever contracted a consultant, let alone a manager

South Africa

Focus on strategic procurement, and a founding member of the DotCom practise. Left voluntarily, and contracted back to the firm for a year...a first for the SA office.

South Africa

Ran the most profitable unit of Unilever SA. 1200 employees across 2 factory units. Improved factory from #16 of benchmarked international factories, to #2. All using leading-edge workforce management systems, that secured me the attention of McKinsey. Africa lead for IR negotiations.

Msc Eng, Industrial Engineering, Top Of Class

Gde Eng, Industrial Engineering

Bsc Eng, Mechanical Engineering, Top Of Class, Medal For Highest Marks In Prior 10Yrs

Mini-Mba, Business Administration And Management, General

I do not have an MBA, as that is used to get into a tier-1 consulting firm. I was already in, and McKinsey training more than covers.