At “Shark Tank for Cities,” Civil Servants Learn to Speak Investors’ Language

With a 16-year career providing housing in South Africa’s Western Cape, trained civil engineer Phila Mayisela is no stranger to giving presentations in front of ministers and other high-ranking public officials. She directs the province’s Department of Human Settlements, which has been struggling to make a dent in the 500,000-person backlog for proper housing in a region riddled with the township legacy of apartheid, especially in greater Cape Town.

But when the strict seven-minute clock began ticking as she stood in front of six financiers last week at World Urban Forum 10 in Abu Dhabi to pitch them on investing in a $804 million housing scheme, even the seasoned civil servant felt the pressure.