Bigen Africa appointed Ruan Minnaar as Human Capital and Marketing Director. He is a dynamic executive with an excellent academic, business and personal record across a wide range of disciplines. “Ruan is a focused and performance-driven executive with a strategic mind-set and a proven ability to deliver long-term value,” says Anton Boshoff, Bigen Africa CEO.

He started his career as a business economics teacher at the Langenhoven, and later, Garsfontein High Schools in Pretoria, where his strategic approach, analytical skills, innovative thinking, and leadership qualities were immediately recognised at local and at provincial level.

In 2008, he joined the health and nutrition organisation, Your Life, to launch its Pretoria branch with 24 staff members, following his passion of working with people. There he structured and implemented programmes and policies in the areas of training, compensation structures, benefits and incentive packages and employee orientation. His management style followed an open-door approach to foster teamwork and positive dialogue, which, combined with dynamic marketing initiatives, saw the business establish and rapidly grow its footprint.

In 2013, he joined Angel Lifestyle, a direct sales company, as managing director with his main responsibilities being sales and business development in 12 African countries. A natural leader, he successfully led a team of 600 000 sales consultants and 150 professional staff members in eight branches. The depth of his governance exposure increased to include strategic business plans and liaison with governments and regulatory bodies. On a business level, he achieved success with innovative, strategic ideas to improve workflow and introduce technology efficiencies, driving costs down and improving the gross profit margin. He remained active in his involvement in human-capital, revising existing and implementing new policies and generally streamlining the HR processes.

Towards the end of 2009, Ruan founded and ran Dunamis Properties, recruiting and building a team of 30-odd agents in three cities, eventually achieving sales in excess of R150 million a year. Factors behind his success included championing diversity, introducing leadership initiatives and maintaining a culture of appreciation for staff achievements. His business acumen is underpinned by an MBA in general management from the Regent University in Virginia Beach, USA.

Some five years later Ruan returned to the human-capital arena where his passion lies, and joined CCI Consulting as a strategic consultant. He established the Leadership Academy, achieving master-training status for all of European Xpand’s products, processes and training materials. Overseeing a team of ten consultants across the country, he was responsible for implementing strategic leadership-development programmes at businesses, and non-profit and educational organisations.

In 2015, Ruan was the co-founder of Lifework Leadership, a group of business professionals who are eager to create a platform to develop a strong community of Christian business leaders in Pretoria. The Lifework Leadership programme is designed for leaders who desire transformation from the inside out and has benefitted a number of prominent leaders in the transformation of their companies, churches and communities, across vocation, denomination and race.  Ruan continues to lead this programme in his capacity as Executive Director of Lifework Leadership.

Ruan’s experience across the full business spectrum, in various sectors and across the African continent, makes him ideally suited to guide and manage the Bigen Africa human capital strategy and implementation. His proven expertise in talent selection and retention, performance monitoring and strategic relationship building, combined with his management approach in terms of risk management, governance and problem-solving, will guide Bigen Africa’s Human Capital Department to contribute in no small way to the group achieving its Vision objectives.

Ruan Minnaar, described as a communicator par excellence, an activator, maximiser and inspirational leader, took up his position at Bigen Africa on 1 January 2017.