Jay Naidoo

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unreferenced = October 2007
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Jay Naidoo, born on 20 December 1954, was the first secretary general of COSATU and was re-elected for three successive terms.

In the 1994 South African general elections Jay was among 20 labour leaders nominated by the trade union movement to stand for election under the banner of the African National Congress, its alliance partner. He was appointed Minister responsible for the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) in Nelson Mandela’s cabinet.

In 1996 Jay was made responsible for the Ministry of Telecommunications, Post, and Broadcasting. In that capacity, he worked closely with telecommunications Ministers in Africa which led to the adoption by over 44 countries of an overall policy framework called the African Connection. This framework created the environment for co-operation on regional markets and projects.

At the end of his tenure in the first democratic parliament in 1999 he stepped down from politics. In that year he launched the J&J Group, a private investment company.

Jay is currently the Chairman of the J&J Group Development Trust as well as Chairman of Lesaka Holdings, a consumer services organisation in which trade unions hold 70% shareholding.

He is also Chairman of the Development Bank of Southern Africa, a key development finance institution driving the expansion of social and economic infrastructure in the Southern African Development Community region.

In addition, he is Chairman of the Global Alliance to Improve Nutrition (GAIN), an organisation based in Geneva and started by a generous grant from the Gates Foundation and other donors. GAIN is focused on the fortification of staple foods to combat malnutrition.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of ITU Telecom and has served on the Global Health Advisory Board of the Clinton Global Initiative.

He is married to Lucie Pagé, a journalist and writer and regards his children as his biggest achievement.