Mike Teke
CEO: Seriti Resources
‘Financiers are looking at the situation and saying, there’s a possibility that we can fund some of these things’
LEADING a global coal organisation is not for the faint-hearted in a green energy world. But it seems to come naturally to Mike Teke, CEO of South African coal producer Seriti Resources and newly appointed chair of the Global Alliance for Sustainable Coal (Future Coal). His diplomatic demeanour makes him a natural head of industry associations, such as the Minerals Council SA, which he chaired from 2013-2017. Now he is deploying these skills as an advocate for both coal and clean energy.
At a time when coal’s reputation is gradually being rehabilitated, Teke has been outspoken in his views of a sustainable future for coal, saying that “coal is a strategic resource to alleviate poverty and underpin aspects of modern living”. But he has also stressed the need for coal industry modernisation. He is practising what he preaches at Seriti. One of SA’s largest coal producers, which supplies about a third of Eskom’s coal requirements, the company has a strong green tinge. Its green energy arm, Seriti Green, develops large-scale renewable energy projects including wind, solar and hydrogen infrastructure.
During 2025, it completed the 900MW Ummbila Emoyeni wind project in Mpumalanga. There is a financial imperative for Seriti’s green energy drive: its eight coal mines, while producing ample coal for Eskom and the export market, are struggling financially amid marginal pricing by Eskom and falling global coal prices. Teke has responded with a focus on greater cost efficiencies including cutting hundreds of jobs.
LIFE OF MIKE
Teke has held HR and executive leadership roles at Unilever, Bayer, the former BHP Billiton, and Impala Platinum. In 2007, he became a founding member of Optimum Coal, where he served as CEO and chair. He co-founded Seriti Resources in 2018. He is also the controlling shareholder of Masimong Group, a black economic empowerment company with interests in a number of ventures. Apart from leading the Minerals Council and Future Coal, Teke has chaired or been a member of numerous other industry associations and organisations, including the University of Johannesburg, the Energy Council of SA and the Richards Bay Coal Terminal.
