The announcement was made after the organisation held its general meeting in Geneva on May 27, 2008. Nkuhlu takes over the presidency from Abe Katz of the US Employer Organisation.

“The appointment of Prof Nkuhlu is a proud moment in the history of South Africa and is proof once again of the calibre of business leadership grown at the southern tip of the African continent,” exclaimed BUSA CEO Jerry Vilakazi.

Nkuhlu is the chairperson of Pan-African Capital Holdings. He also served as economic adviser to President Thabo Mbeki and as chief executive of the Secretariat of the New Economic Partnership for African Development. Nkuhlu also currently holds directorships at Kagiso Trust Investments, AngloGold Ashanti and Metropolitan where he is chairman of the board. He is also chairman of the Eastern Cape Development Corporation.

Since its inception in 1920 the IOE has been recognised as the only organisation at the international level that represents the interests of business in the labour and social policy fields. The organisation consisted of 146 national employer organisations from 138 countries from all over the world.

The IOE’s mission is to promote and defend the interests of employers in international forums, particularly in the International Labour Organization (ILO), and to this end, worked to ensure that international labour and social policy promoted the viability of enterprises and created an environment favourable to enterprise development and job creation. It also acted as the secretariat to the employers' group at the ILO International Labour Conference, the ILO governing body and all other ILO-related meetings.

To ensure that the voice of business is heard at the international and national levels, the IOE was actively engaged in the creation and capacity building of representative organisations of employers, particularly in the developing world and those countries in transition to the market economy.

The IOE is the permanent liaison body for the exchange of information, views and experience among employers throughout the world. It acts as the recognised channel for the communication and promotion of the employer point of view to all United Nations agencies and other international organisations.