Ngwedla Paul Msiza of South Africa was installed as president of the Baptist World Alliance (BWA) on July 25, 2015 during the Baptist World Congress in Durban, South Africa. He succeeded John Upton of the United States and is the first African to hold the office since William Tolbert of Liberia served as president of the BWA from 1965 to 1970.

 

Msiza was actively involved in the BWA since 2000 and a former BWA vice president. He served on the General Council, the Executive Committee, the Nominations Committee, the Congress Committee, the Mission, Evangelism and Theological Reflection Advisory Committee, Promotion and Development Advisory Committee, Membership Committee, the Commission on Doctrine and Interchurch Cooperation and the Academic and Theological Education Workgroup. Additionally, he was president of the All Africa Baptist Fellowship, one of six regional fellowships of the BWA, from 2006-2011 and general secretary of the Baptist Convention of South Africa (BCSA) from 2001-2010.

 

Paul Msiza was trained at the Hebron Teacher Training College and worked bi-vocationally as a pastor and school teacher from 1988 until he became founding principal of the Baptist Convention College in 1995, from where he left to become BCSA general secretary.

 

He holds diplomas and degrees from the University of Witwatersrand, the University of South Africa, the Baptist Theological Seminary of Southern Africa and the Baptist Bible Institute.

He pastors Peniel-Salem Baptist Church in Pretoria beginning in 2011 and has been married to Sanna Mapula since 1986 and they have three sons.