Garreth Bloor has served as President of the Canada-Africa Chamber of Business since 2019 and is a seasoned consultant.
As President of The Canada-Africa Chamber of Business he has led trade and investment engagements across Canada and on the African continent. They have included Prime Ministers, leading CEOs, Cabinet Members and entrepreneurs on both sides of the Atlantic. Under his leadership the organization has grown, with new offices in Toronto, Ottawa and Accra, while on-the-ground with event programs throughout Canada and African markets, including Botswana, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Lesotho, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe.
Bloor is committed to intra-African free trade and their supporting institutions. Since 2024 he has served as an expert witness on Canada-Africa relations appearing before the Canadian Parliament's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development (FAAE), as well as the Senate's Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade. He was an invitee to the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) deliberations during the Extraordinary Summit in Niger in 2019 and chairs regular bilaterals and forums with the African Union and African Development Bank, hosted by the Chamber.
During his tenure he has rapidly expanded the programs offered by the organization, welcoming thousands of participants drawn from every country on the African continent and receiving regular media coverage in hundreds of media outlets.
On Africa Day last year he received the Zambezi-Kilimanjaro Excellence Award from the African Group of Ambassadors, in recognition of his 'exceptional contribution to promote relations between Canada and Africa’.
Prior to his tenure at the Chamber, Bloor was an executive politician, heading economic development in the City of Cape Town - elected at age 23, and to a Parliamentary seat at age 26 - followed by roles in venture capital and Canada-Africa deal facilitation.
During his time in public office, he led changes to over 300 policies and by-laws through scrapping an equivalent number, inherited from the pre-democracy city planning regime. A year following the municipal reforms the value of new building plans in the city saw a growth of 46% year-on-year. He has addressed events and presented papers at dozens of conferences globally.
After his post-graduate studies, he served as a member of the University of Cape Town’s Council from 2011 to 2016 and its University Research Committee during the same period. His peer-reviewed research has been published by - among others - Canada's Fraser Institute, where he currently serves as a Senior Associate.
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St Gallen University in Switzerland named Garreth one of the Top 100 global Leaders of Tomorrow at their annual symposium in May 2014 and in 2016 he was named a Leader of Today.