Deshan Naidoo

CEO Afrivolt

Deshan Naidoo is a multidisciplinary industrialist and investor with a proven track record in manufacturing, energy and capital markets. As Founder & Managing Director of Afrivolt, he is driving the establishment of Southern Africa’s first battery cell gigafactory to power grid-scale storage and heavy-vehicle electrification. He is a shareholder of Cannon Asset Managers and other manufacturing and metal processing businesses and serves on the advisory board of the Investing in African Mining Indaba 2026 (Infrastructure & Industrialisation). Deshan was a member of the B20 Energy Mix & Just Transition Task Force and served on NAACAM’s National Executive Committee from 2017–2023. An INSEAD Certified International Director and Presidential Precinct Fellow, he holds the distinction of being recognised as South Africa’s Presidential Industrialist Exporter of the Year (2022), an honour awarded for advancing the nation’s export trade.