Dr Sudesh Pursad is the Managing Director and founder of Blue Semper Consulting, a South African management consulting firm specialising in ESG Strategy & Advisory, Business Strategy & Transformation, and Financial Crime Regulatory Readiness & Compliance. He is a recognised strategist and thought leader on how ESG investments drive financial and non-financial value creation in corporates.
With 36 years of multidisciplinary consulting and entrepreneurship experience, Dr Pursad has advised and supported a wide range of public and private-sector organisations across Africa, South Africa, the UK and Qatar. Under his leadership, Blue Semper Consulting partners with other experienced management consulting firms with Big Four pedigree to design and operationalise ESG and business strategies that deliver measurable impact and long-term stakeholder value.
Dr Pursad’s doctoral research, titled “Evaluating the Strategic Impact of ESG Investments on Financial and Non-Financial Value Creation in South African Corporates” (Swiss Business School), positions him at the forefront of ESG thought leadership in emerging markets. His research introduced the concept of “ESG-Usual”, which challenges compliance-driven ESG practices and advocates for strategic ESG integration that enhances competitiveness, resilience, and sustainability performance.
He continues to advance ESG practice in Africa for impact through the Interactive ESG Ecosystem Framework (developed through doctoral research), the first GRI-certified ESG reporting solutions in Africa (ESGRepTM and GHGRepTM), and a CBAM reporting platform (CBAMBOO). His work bridges strategy, data, purpose and impact to help organisations enhance value creation ethically and sustainably.
Dr Pursad possesses a Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) (Swiss Business School), a Master’s in Applied Business Research (Swiss Business School), an MBA, as well as a Bachelor of Science. (Computer Science), a GRI Reporting Certificate, and a Project Management Professional qualification (since 2005). Outside of his professional career, Dr Pursad is passionate about his family, the outdoors, fly fishing, and squash.
