Mr Daksesh PatelBoard Chairman (Since January 2020)
Daksesh Patel is Chairman of the Fiji National Provident Fund (FNPF). He is a respected businessman, leader and entrepreneur with extensive experience in the Australian steel industry within the Australia region.
Daksesh was the InfraBuild CEO from October 2019 to July 2021, helming the business during a time of transformational change. As CEO, Daksesh led transformation activities to arrest the business’s performance trajectory, setting the foundation for optimisation and establishing a platform for future growth.
He is a current Board Director of InfraBuild, Australia’s largest vertically-integrated long steel manufacturer, as well as a member of the global LIBERTY Steel Group Board.
Daksesh has held senior leadership roles in privately-held businesses operating throughout the Oceania region. He is a member of Vinod Patel Group, one of Fiji’s largest privately owned enterprise. These businesses own and operate diversified portfolios in manufacturing, distribution and building products, including the steel industry, and collectively employ over 2000 people. He founded Mesh & Bar, Australia’s largest independent steel reinforcing company, in 1988.
Throughout his career, Daksesh has continued to make a meaningful contribution to Fiji. In 2016, Daksesh became Chairman of Energy Fiji Limited and oversaw its transition from a government owned statutory body into a newly corporatised entity in 2018.
Under Daksesh’s leadership, EFL achieved partial divestment with an aim to eventually list on the local stock exchange positioned as one of the few utilities in the region achieving a sustainable level of return on assets. Determined to drive a sustainable future, Daksesh is a key supporter of EFL’s commitment to the cultivation of clean, renewable sources of energy.
He is also a current board member with the Fiji Airways.
Daksesh was born and brought up in Ba and is married with two children and loves rugby union.