By Professor Bonang Mohale
Davos in Switzerland is the highest town in Europe at 1 560m situated in the mountains and as result, a very popular skiing destination precisely due to its cold weather, ice and snow at this time of the year! Yet ever since the World Economic Forum (WEF) brought its Annual Meeting to the alpine venue, the name resonates with the flagship event.
The 20 – 24 January 2025 is the 55th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) that has brought together nearly 3 000 leaders from over 130 countries and 350 governmental leaders, including 60 heads of states and governments, from all key regions; over 1 600 business leaders, including over 900 of the world’s top CEOs and Chairs from the WEF Members and Partners – over 120 of which are Global Innovators, Tech Pioneers and Unicorns who are transforming industries; civil society; the foremost scientific and cultural thinkers.
Today, the programme contains more than 300 sessions – 200 of which are livestreamed to a global audience that aim to accelerate progress and tackle global challenges. The agenda changes every year to address the world’s most pressing issues – from pandemic preparedness and reskilling, to the state of the global economy and the energy transition. The WEF releases the Global Risks Report ahead of the Annual Meeting each January, to identify and analyse the upcoming near- and longer term critical global risks that underpin discussions.
The Forum continues this work year round with a range of initiatives via its Centres. Geo-economic fragmentation, geopolitical polarisation and divisions over values continue to impact countries and communities across the world. At the same time, exponential innovation and deployment around whole sets of inter-connected technologies – from Artificial Intelligence (AI) and quantum to energy tech, biotech and health tech – offer an unprecedented opportunity to increase productivity and hence standards of living. Reviving and reimagining growth is critical to building stronger and more resilient economies.
Given these powerful forces at play, three questions are guiding the conversations, namely how can we avoid an age of Fragmentation and instead work together on a can-do, people-centred agenda for an Intelligent Age; how can we reinvent the muscle of collaborative innovation to get out of the current low-growth, high-debt world economy and address common challenges from climate change to the ethical use of AI? To respond to this dynamic context, the WEF has convened leaders under the theme ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’.
Building on the core roles of the WEF as the International Organisation for Public Private Cooperation, it serves as a trusted global platform for dialogue and cooperation; brings together a diverse community of stakeholders; seeks to connect the dots in an era of complexity; firmly future oriented both in terms of insights and solutions and leadership in complexity to look at the necessary toolkit to navigate this fast-evolving environment.
The programme is oriented around five distinct but highly interconnected thematic priorities, viz. reimagining growth; industries in the intelligent age; investment in people; safeguarding the planet and rebuilding trust. It is accessible to the wider public through livestreaming of the public sessions, complemented by the presence of media leaders and reporting press and through local engagement at the Open Forum in Davos. It brings together these leaders to set the year’s agenda for how leaders of social partners can make the world a better place for all. Its relevance as a global gathering sits within and beyond the official programme. The importance of dialogue – often happening in private conversations – reveals an ever important mission to convene leaders when ‘threats to world stability are multiplying’.
Following its founding on 24 January 1971 by Professor Klaus Schwab, the European Management Symposium (EMS), as it was then known, held its first meeting in Cologny, Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. The WEF tries to embody ‘the spirit of Davos’, which is an attitude of openness and cooperation that is core to the mission of the Forum. The ‘Davos Manifesto’, created in 1973 and renewed in 2020, lays out the principles of stakeholder capitalism or a system of shared goals for businesses. Inaugural participants discussed Professor Schwab’s ‘stakeholder theory’, his vision that businesses should serve all stakeholders, rather than just shareholders, including employees, suppliers and the wider community. Today, ‘stakeholder capitalism’ is a guiding principle of the Forum.
In 1973, the Annual Meeting endorsed the ‘Davos Manifesto’s “Code of Ethics for Business Leaders” which was updated in 2020 to set out the purpose of business in the Fourth Industrial Revolution – itself a concept coined by Professor Schwab in his 2016 book. Politicians were first invited to take part in the WEF, Davos in 1974 and in 1987 the EMS became the World Economic Forum, with a broadened aim to provide a platform to address the pressing issues of the day via public-private cooperation.
The WEF recognises the severity of the climate crisis and does its best to lead by example and boost sustainability at Davos. Since 2017, all Davos-related carbon (CO2) emissions have been calculated and offset through environmental projects in Switzerland and abroad. It also ensures that energy consumption at Davos is limited, takes steps to reduce waste and that only renewable electricity is used for the event. These efforts include the use of repurposed event materials, the removal of single-use plastics and collaborations with local associations to distribute non-used furniture and food leftovers. Transportation remains the primary source of CO2 emissions at Davos. Therefore, it encourages attendees to travel in the most sustainable manner and offers a 100% discount for all participants in Europe who travel by train. Davos also serves as an opportunity to showcase climate research and sound the alarm on the many pressing climate-related issues.
At Davos 2019, David Attenborough delivered a powerful address on the ‘new geological age’ and in 2023 the USA Climate Envoy, John Kerry called for the ‘biggest transformation, economically, since the industrial revolution.’ Aligning with the Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, launched in 2005, Davos strives to be a gender-equal platform.
In recent years, women have made up a quarter of attendees, a higher proportion than among world or business leaders. In 2018, there was an all-female line up of co-chairs for the meeting. Together, they also made up the first all-female panel of Davos co-chairs, thereby sending a powerful message as the shockwaves of the #MeToo Movement spread.
In 2025, the goal remains to achieve near parity for session moderation roles. The Global Gender Gap Report has become one of the most closely analysed annual benchmarking exercises and the Forum runs an increasing number of taskforces in various countries to work with a broader stakeholder community to speed up progress towards parity.
Many of the governments, companies and international organisations who attend Davos put on sideline events outside of the Annual Meeting venue. These events – which can include dinners, parties, exhibitions, industry meetings and bilateral talks – are both planned and sponsored by the host organisations.
Aside from Davos, the organisation convenes regional conferences, from which it produces a series of reports, engages its members in sector-specific initiatives and provides a platform for leaders from selected stakeholder groups to collaborate on projects and initiatives. Davos had been the venue for the Annual Meeting every year until 2002 when, in a gesture of solidarity with the people of New York following the 9/11 attacks in 2001, the Forum held the event in the USA city.
When COVID-19 struck, initially Davos 2021 and then Davos 2022 went entirely digital as the ‘Davos Agenda’. The in-person Davos 2022 was rescheduled to May 2022 with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine high on the agenda. January 2023 saw a return to the usual winter slot and with careful health measures in place, the meeting marked the beginning of the end of three years of a global pandemic.
Professor Bonang Mohale is the Chancellor of the University of the Free State, Former President of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA), Professor of Practice in the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) in the Faculty of Business and Economics and Chairman of two listed entities, The Bidvest Group Limited and ArcelorMittal as well as Swiss Re Corporate Solutions Africa and SBV Services!
He is a member of the Community of Chairpersons (CoC) of the World Economic Forum and author of the two best selling books, “Lift As You Rise“ and “Behold The Turtle”! In November 2001, he received the PRESIDENTIAL AWARD for his “Servanthood in South African Industry & the Economic Empowerment of Previously Disadvantaged Individuals”.
He is the recipient of the:
– African Union’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ 2024 at the Africa Career & Gala Awards’ in recognition of exceptional contribution and achievement’.
– 2024 Society for Industrial & Organisational Psychology of South Africa (SIOPSA) ‘Special Presidential Business Leadership Award’ for commitment to ethical leadership, social justice and economic transformation
– 2023 ME-Vision Academy Award’s ‘Exclusive Recognition in Successful Leadership’ for consistently leading self and people successfully; successfully leading as a senior executive & CEO; successfully leading society in various impactful roles and contribution to mentoring & inspiring future successful leaders.
He has been included in the Reputation Poll International’s (RPI) 2023 list of the ‘100 Most Reputable Africans’. The selection criteria are Integrity, Reputation, Transparency, Visibility and Impact.
