ORT announces Roland Sassoon as new president

ORT SA has announced the appointment of Roland Sassoon as its new president. Sassoon is a banking and finance veteran, and is former chief executive of Sasfin Bank. He is also an entrepreneur who has been involved in financing small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) for more than 50 years. He’s known for strategic thinking, an innovative approach to doing business, and a commitment to staff development.

As president of ORT SA, an education and training organisation affiliated to World ORT, Sassoon will provide strategic leadership and oversight of the organisation’s activities and programmes.

“For more than 50 years, I have been closely involved in financing SMEs, and I look forward to applying this experience to ORT SA in assisting entrepreneurs to establish their businesses,” he says.

“SMEs in South Africa are facing huge challenges with inflation, power failures, probable recession, high interest rates, unemployment, poor skills, and so on,” Sassoon says. “For most, unfortunately, the goal is survival rather than thriving in these tough times, although of course there are always opportunities especially in new technologies such as online business and, of course, artificial intelligence. ORT assists SMEs in various ways such as strategising, marketing, and financing. As non-executive president, I hope to provide some guidance in fulfilling its purpose.”