Leila Marimootoo-Reddy, the unconventional businesswoman

This engineer turned banker has definitely not made her career choices by the book. She is about to start a new chapter in a new location by founding her own consulting firm.

From chemical engineering to business consulting, investment banking in the oil and gas field and now consultant on Oil and Gas Capital projects, 51-year-old Leila Marimootoo-Reddy’s career path has definitely not been a linear one. Buoyant, assertive and loquacious, she firmly believes that it is a person’s ability to innovate that guides his career path.

A native of Quatre-Bornes, Leila Marimootoo-Reddy studied at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, following which she worked for one and a half year as a cashier. She then flew off to South Africa where she graduated in 1988 from the University of Natal in Chemical Engineering.

“After graduation, I joined Mobil Oil (now Engen) in 1989, as a junior engineer, where I spent seven years while gradually climbing my way up. In 1995, I opted to dip a toe in the consulting world and thus joined SRK Consulting as an environmental engineer,” states Leila Reddy. It is also the same year she graduated with a Communications degree from the University of South Africa (UNISA).

In 1997, Leila Reddy’s career is about to take a definite turn when she integrates business firm Deloitte South Africa as a senior manager for two years, then switching to account executive at Systems Applications Products Southern Africa from 1999 to 2001, where she won the first two tenders for the South African Revenue Service and the Gauteng Provincial Legislature in the South African public sector. These were multi-million rand accounts with significant opportunities for “sell on” work...

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