Dr. Matthew Stern

Matthew Stern is the Managing Director of DNA Economics and an economist with a wide range of public and private sector experience.  Prior to founding DNA Economics, Matthew worked for the South African Department of Trade and Industry, the National Treasury of South Africa and the World Bank.  His consulting and research interests are in trade and industrial policy and regional integration.  Matthew has an MSc in Financial Economics from the University of London and a PhD in Development Studies from the University of Sussex.

Elias Masilela

Elias Masilela is the Chief Executive Officer of the Public Investment Commission (PIC) and a non-executive Director of DNA Economics.  He was recently appointed by the President of South Africa as a part-time commissioner on the National Planning Commission.  Elias is also a Director of the South African Savings Institute; a Director of the South African Reserve Bank; a founder member of the Financial Sector Charter Council; and a member of the Advisory Board of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria.  He has previously held senior positions with Sanlam, the Central Bank of Swaziland and the South African National Treasury. Elias holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Sciences (Economics and Statistics) from the University of Swaziland and a Master of Sciences in Economic Policy and Analysis from the Addis Ababa University.  He has lectured at a number of academic institutions and has written widely on the subject of economic policy.

Amanda Jitsing

Amanda Jitsing is a economist with experience in trade economics and public finance. In 2003, she joined the Applied Fiscal Research Centre (AFReC affiliated to UCT) undertaking research and assisting in developing policies for national, provincial and local government in South Africa. She has also facilitated capacity building interventions for government officials aimed at strengthening strategic planning and improving financial management in the public sector. In 2005, she moved to the Auditor General where she managed various projects on behalf of the Association of Public Accounts Committees. Amanda holds a Mcom in Economics from the University of Kwa Zulu Natal. She is also an SAQA accredited assessor and moderator.

Sarah Truen

Sarah is an economist with a particular interest in the competitive framework and regulation of network economies. Sarah joined DNA Economics from Genesis Analytics, where she undertook research across a wide range of industries, including capital markets, telecommunications, and the transportation sector, for clients from both the private and public sector. Specific projects included benchmarking South African telecommunications prices against an international peer group, analysis of price formation and efficiency in the South African rail network, and providing recommendations as regards the regulation of the contracts for differences market. From 1999 to 2003, Sarah worked in the South African stockbroking industry. She holds an MCom in Economics from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Yash Ramkolowan

Yash Ramkolowan is an economist with experience in financial economics, trade and industrial policy. Prior to joining DNA Economics, Yash worked as a research analyst at Cadiz Securities, where he was responsible for modelling equities, writing reports and developing investment strategies. He has also worked as a research assistant on a number of trade-related projects while at the University of Cape Town.  Yash holds an MCom in Economics from the University of Cape Town.

Brent Cloete

Brent is an economist experienced in conducting sector studies, socio-economic and regulatory impact analyses, evaluating donor programmes and providing policy and strategy advice to public and private sector clients. His current focus is on climate change economics. Brent joined DNA from Genesis Analytics, where he worked in the development finance, liquid fuels, chemicals, capital markets, telecommunications, publishing, and pulp and paper sectors in South Africa. He has also worked on projects focussing on other African countries, including trade facilitation in East Africa, economic recovery in Zimbabwe, manufacturing in Mozambique, the textile and clothing industry in Botswana, and public sector reform in Rwanda. He holds an M.Comm in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch.

Stephen Chisadza

Stephen Chisadza is an economist with specialist skills mainly in competition and regulation economics. Before joining DNA Economics, Stephen was a competition and regulation economist at Genesis Analytics. Prior to that, he was a member of the South African Competition Commission - Banking Enquiry’s technical team. In these positions, the breadth of his experience has covered a number of sectors such as the mining industry, agriculture, shipping, the pharmaceutical industry, the petro-chemicals industry, consumer retail markets, as well as the fast moving consumer goods industry. Stephen holds an MCom from the University of Pretoria.

Fouché Venter

Fouché Venter is a recent addition to the team at DNA Economics.  He finished the course work for his Master’s degree at the University of Pretoria at the end of 2011 and is currently busy completing his dissertation.  He received the prize in April 2011 for the top achievement in Economics at Honours level after graduating at the top of his class in 2010.  Also in 2010 he was chosen to attend summer classes at Fordham University in New York as part of an exchange programme where he completed a certificate in International Political Economy of Development.   Special areas of interest include Economic Development, Emerging Markets, Public Finance and Industrial Organisation.

Dr Lufeyo Banda

Lufeyo Banda is a financial sector specialist with corporate banking experience in three SADC countries. For the last 5 years he has been involved in a research project to evaluate the competitiveness, efficiency and regulatory environment of the SADC banking sector. In addition, he has undertaken financial sector research projects for both the World Bank and the IMF. He has also worked part-time as a lecturer at the Universities of Botswana and Cape Town. Lufeyo holds a PhD in economics from the University of Cape Town. 

Dr Natasha Ward

Natasha Ward is the Trade in Services Advisor with the USAID Southern Africa Trade Hub (SATH) project and a Trade in Services Specialist with DNA Economics.  Prior to joining SATH and DNA Economics, Natasha was a consultant to the Geneva-based International Trade Centre, the Barbados Private Sector Trade Team and the Shridath Ramphal Centre for International Trade Law, Policy and Services of the University of the West Indies. She has also worked with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade of Barbados.   Natasha has had brief stints at World Trade Organisation, World Trade Institute and the American Chamber of Commerce of Trinidad and Tobago. 

She holds a Master of International Law and Economics degree (summa cum laude) from the World Trade Institute in Berne and a Doctorate in International Relations from the University of the West Indies.  Her research interests include trade in services, investment, regional integration issues as well as migration.   

Prof. Frank Flatters

Frank Flatters (PhD) is Professor Emeritus of Economics at Queens University, Canada, where he taught from 1971 to 2002. He also has taught at the University of Chicago, The Johns Hopkins University, and the University of Essex, and has held research posts at Harvard University, the London School of Economics and University College London. He has published five books and written numerous monographs and articles. Frank has extensive experience on trade policy issues in Southern Africa - as an adviser to SADC, USAID, the World Bank, the Government of Mozambique, and the National Treasury of South Africa. His work in the region has focused on tariff reform, trade facilitation and industrial development; including assessments of particular sectors and regulatory distortions. You can learn more about Frank at www.frankflatters.com. 

Volker Schoer

Volker Schoer is an economist who lectures in the School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of Witwatersrand. He has also lectured economics in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town. Volker holds a Masters of Arts (Cum laude) from the University of Cape Town and specialises in South African trade issues, industrial policy, competition policy and labour economics. He has consulted with the Department of Trade and Industry, National Treasury and private companies. Volker's current research focuses on the impact of changes in upstream prices on downstream production and employment. 

Dr. Lawrence Edwards

Lawrence Edwards is an Associate Professor in the School of Economics, University of Cape Town. Lawrence graduated with a MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics in 1998. He completed his PhD in Economics at the University of Cape Town in 2003.

Lawrence's research falls within the field of international trade with a specific focus on international trade and labour, the determinants of trade flows and economic adjustments to trade liberalisation. He has published in a number of international and local journals including World Development, Journal of International Development, South African Journal of Economics and Journal of Studies in Economics and Econometrics. He has also consulted widely with the World Bank, the National Treasury, the Department of Trade and Industry and is currently a member of the South African Growth Project managed by the Centre of International Development at Harvard University. 

Prof. Channing Arndt

Channing Arndt currently manages a long term capacity building and policy analysis project in Mozambique. He has published extensively in leading academic journals. His research program has focused on trade policy, the evolution of poverty, the implications of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, technological change, infrastructure investment, and climate variability in agriculturally dependent economies. He has taught courses in quantitative methods at Purdue University, in the USA, and has played a key role in the extension of the Global Trade Analysis Project (GTAP) to Africa. He is currently a Visiting Professor within the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen and an Associate with the Development Economics Research Group.  Channing holds a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Purdue University.

Liz Dartnall

Liz Dartnall is a health policy specialist with strong research, public policy and project management experience. She was a researcher at the Center for Health Policy, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg; has worked for the Health Department's of both Western Australia and South Africa; and was Senior Programme Manager for AMREF South Africa. Liz has a Post-graduate Degree in Psychology from Curtin University in Australia and a Masters in Science (Medicine) from the University of the Witwatersrand. She is Project Manager of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative of the Global Forum for Health Research, hosted by the South African Medical Research Council.