Yash Ramkolowan

Matthew Stern

Elias Masilela

Anja Smith

Dr Anja Smith is a development economist and part-time academic. She started her applied economics research career in 2005. Since then, she has worked on multiple small and large projects across the financial, health and education sectors, in South Africa and also in other low- and middle-income settings on the African continent.

Anja is a senior economist in the Public Economics and Modelling practice at DNA Economics. She has deep experience in research management and analytics, data analysis, systems analysis and innovation in social delivery. She is passionate about passionate about solving economic development challenges through economic frameworks, real-world data and collaboration across sectors.

Daleen Nieuwoudt

Paison Tazvivinga  

Paison joined DNA Economics in 2022 as an economic consultant within the Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. Paison is a passionate and results-oriented economist and big data engineer with in-depth knowledge and more than 10 years of experience in policy analysis, monitoring and evaluation, quantitative and qualitative research, data collection, data wrangling, analysis, and presentation for government, corporates and non-profit organisations. His special field of interest relates to mixed methods research employing several M&E tools and methods to monitor and evaluate projects and programmes for evidence-based decision-making in both the private and public sectors.

Paison has conducted research projects in a wide variety of sectors including mining, education, health, retail and socio-economic development. He has a keen interest in the application of data science in social sciences. Paison holds an honours degree in economics and a Data Scientist certificate from Data Camp. He is in the final semester of a Masters degree in Big Data Analytics.

Keatlaretse Mooketsi

Keatlaretse started working at DNA Economics in 2019 as a Monitoring and Evaluation Analyst in the Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. She is an emerging evaluator with more than 5 years' experience in research and programme monitoring and evaluation for government, private and non-profit organisations. Keatlaretse has experience in a variety of sectors including finance, education and training, entrepreneurship, and employment, and has contributed to several evaluations and research studies in these sectors.

She has a keen interest in education and training, specifically with regard to the impact these sectors can have on people`s livelihoods. Currently, Keatlaretse's focus is on assessing consumer education and financial literacy programmes in the country. Keatlaretse is currently completing her master’s degree in Economics at North-West University.

Nicola Grace Wills

JOHANN VINCENT VAN DER WESTHUIZEN

Vincent is a Junior Economist (Analyst) at DNA Economics in the Public Economics and Modeling Practice Area. He holds a Bcom and Bcom Hons degree in Econometrics from the University of Pretoria and will graduate at the beginning of 2023 with a Mcom degree in Applied Economics from the University of Cape Town.

Prior to joining DNA Economics, Vincent completed a one year Graduate Internship program with the Department of the Premier in the Western Cape Government. His previous research topics focused on immigration policy, the potential link between renewable resource development and job growth in South Africa, and time series analysis. Vincent has a keen interest on Developmental Economics and Energy and Environmental Economics but will work in other fields as well.

Grace Budiaki

Grace has joined DNA Economics as an emerging evaluator in the Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. She holds a BBusSc in Economics from UCT and is currently completing a Master’s degree in Applied Economics at the same institution.

Prior to joining DNA Economics, Grace was contracted by the World Bank as a research assistant at the Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit (SALDRU) to help develop the Youth Explorer website. The project, which is a part of the Presidential Youth Employment Intervention, maps services available to youth around South Africa.

Since joining DNA, Grace has utilized a variety of research and M&E techniques in her work on government and private sector monitoring and evaluation projects involving education, socio-economic development, tourism, and trade.

Zulaikha Brey 

Zulaikha worked as an economist at DNA Economics from 2012 to 2019, before moving to Trialogue for two years. She has since returned to DNA Economics as Director of DNA’s Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. Zulaikha is a development economist with more than 15 years of research experience and 12 years experience in programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation for government, multilateral institutions, donors, corporates, and non-profit organisations employing a range of research and M&E methods.

She has experience in a wide variety of sectors including trade, finance, health, education, entrepreneurship, employment, and socio-economic development, and has completed more than 60 evaluations and research studies to date. In the financial sector, Zulaikha has been involved in the assessment of outreach, consumer education and financial literacy programmes. She has done substantive work on consumer protection and financial integration across SADC. She holds a Masters in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch.

Fouché VENTER

Fouché leads the Public Economics and Modelling practice at DNA Economics. He began his research career in 2011 and has been involved in more than 35 research projects since then. Fouché has worked with government departments, multilateral institutions, donors, and private sector companies.

He has extensive experience in programme design, evaluation, public and private sector financial analysis and costing, data analysis, and innovative social financing. Areas of expertise are in education, health, and social protection.

Alexandra spyrelis  

Alexandra joined DNA Economics in 2020 and is a Principal in the Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. She has over 12 years of experience in designing and leading more than 25 research, monitoring, and evaluation projects for government, donors, corporates, and non-profit organisations. Her work at DNA has primarily been focused on socioeconomic development and consumer financial education, while her prior work was focused on public health, specifically HIV prevention. This work has been accompanied by publications in peer-reviewed journals and presentations at international conferences.

Her areas of specialisation include monitoring and evaluation, research design and analysis, and project management. She holds a Masters degree in Research Psychology (with distinction) from the University of the Witwatersrand, and is currently completing a PhD at the University of Stellenbosch.

Previlage Chidzewere 

Previlage Chidzewere work as a Business Development and Project Management Specialist at DNA. Before joining DNA Economics, Previlage oversaw large-scale donor funded programmes and have significant experience in managing international projects, facilitating strategic dialogues, conceptualising, planning, as well as implementing multi-stakeholder and cross-regional programmes in Southern and Sub-Saharan Africa.

He has a strong understanding of regional development work, including the maintenance of relationships with key stakeholders, including government, donors, civil society, and the private sector. Previlage holds a master’s degree in Public and Development Management from the University of the Witwatersrand.

LINTON REDDY

Linton is an economist at DNA Economics with specialist skills in competition and industry analysis. Linton joined DNA in 2016 and has since been involved in a number of competition, trade, sector, and country studies for government, donors and private clients. This includes undertaking research for the Competition Commission of South Africa (CCSA), Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic), and Department of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation (DPME). He has also undertaken research on regional integration to support various SADC programs including more recent work on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

Before joining DNA, Linton spent four years as an economist in the Policy and Research Division at the Competition Commission of South Africa. During his time at the CCSA, he has conducted competition analysis across a wide range of sectors, including agriculture, bitumen, chemicals, fertilizer, fisheries, minerals and mining, pharmaceuticals, paper and pulp, telecommunications and transport. He has also drafted expert reports and provided economic input into cases presented at the Competition Tribunal of South Africa. Linton currently holds a BBusSc (Honours) degree in economics from the University of Kwa-Zulu Natal and is working towards an MCOM in Competition and Regulation at the University of Johannesburg.

lauralyn Kaziboni

Julita ramsunder 

Julita is an economist at DNA Economics and has filled this role from 2020 to present. As a researcher within DNA Economics, her role is to provide in-depth insights to her clients, and she has built capabilities in both monitoring & evaluation and public economics. She has previously worked in management consulting where she shaped the digital transformation agenda across organisations and delivered high value to clients through cost-effective business solutions coupled with automation technologies.

She has experience in a wide variety of sectors including finance, education, mining, climate, regulation, and retail and has both managed and delivered projects across these sectors. She holds a Masters in Economics from the University of Witwatersrand.

Thoko Mahlangu

Thoko joined DNA Economics in 2022 as an emerging evaluator and an economist in DNA’s Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation Practice. She holds a BA in International Relations, BA (Honours) in Political Science and a Master’s in Political Science awarded with distinction, from Stellenbosch University. Prior to joining DNA Economics, she was an intern at Southern Hemisphere where she worked in the fields of policy influence, children and human rights, entrepreneurship, education, and youth development.

During this time at DNA, Thoko has conducted numerous evaluations, particularly in the socio-economic development, employment, entrepreneurship and financial consumer education sectors. Her core skills include evaluation, research and facilitation. Thoko has a particular interest in the use of Monitoring and Evaluation to help organisations to learn and measure outcomes. Thoko is a member of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA).

Vuyisiwe Mahafu

Vuyisiwe is a Junior Economist at DNA Economics in the Public Economics and Modelling Practice Area. She holds a Bachelor's and Honours degrees from Rhodes University and a Master's degree from the University of Witwatersrand, all specialising in Economics. She has also completed the National Certificate in Financial Markets and Instruments from Novia One.

Vuyisiwe is an alumnus of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Fort Hare Autumn School (FES-FHAS) on Social Democracy and Political Economy. This youth and leadership programme aims to enable South Africa's next generation of leaders to become active and socially responsible citizens who aspire to promote a better life for everyone. She is the current General Secretary for the 2023/2024 FES-FHAS Alumni Board.

Vuyisiwe is passionate about public policy because of its potential to have a real impact. She wants to use her skills and knowledge as an economist to contribute to public policies that alleviate poverty, decrease inequality, create jobs and grow the economy. In her words: "I have a duty to invest in my country".

emma Smith 

Emma is a Junior Economist at DNA Economics, working in the Trade, investment, and Regional Integration Practice Area. She holds a Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSocSc) degree, a BSocSc Honours degree from the University of Cape Town and a Master’s of Science degree in Labor Studies from the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Prior to joining DNA Economics, Emma held part-time positions at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies and the Chris Hani Institute, where she primarily worked on post-Covid economic recovery and collective bargaining research. In addition, she has done consultative work for trade unions, focusing on ethical standards boards and their role in the fruit and wine supply chain in the Western Cape. Her own research has focused on the changing nature of work and South Africa’s National Minimum Wage.

Imaan Ghoor 

Imaan has joined the Public Economics and Modelling team at DNA. She holds a Bachelor of Business Science (Economics) from the University of Cape Town. Prior to joining DNA Economics, she taught at the University of Cape Town. She taught undergraduate students in Applied Statistics. Her previous research topics looked at trade and the environment and her current research is investigating burden sharing preferences of Cape Town residents in the context of water consumption.

Imaan has a particular interest in Climate Change, Energy and Environmental Economics. Imaan is currently doing her M.Com in Applied Economics at the University of Cape Town.

Noxolo Mahlalela

Noxolo is an economist in the Public Economics and Modelling practice area at DNA Economics. Prior to joining DNA Economics, she worked as a researcher in the Macroeconomics and Data Information division at the Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC). She has experience in consulting through her previous position as a senior consultant at Palmer Development Group (PDG), where she worked on various projects primarily dealing with municipal finance.

She also has experience in competition and regulatory economics through her previous role at Genesis Analytics. Noxolo’s areas of interest broadly include public finance, and economic and fiscal policy. She holds a master’s degree in applied economics from the University of Cape Town and a Bachelor of Business Science degree in economics from Rhodes 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.

Nadira Bayat

Nadira Bayat is a Gender and Trade Expert with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), where she leads the approach to gender mainstreaming in African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) National Strategies. Nadira has served in various roles in other United Nations (UN) agencies, including at the International Court of Justice, UN Transitional Administration in East Timor and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda; as well as at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Prior to joining ECA, Nadira was Programme Director at Global Economic Governance (GEG) Africa — a policy research and stakeholder engagement programme, focusing on sustainable development priorities in Africa. She has also held senior positions in the South African Government, including as Counsellor: Multilateral at the Embassy of South Africa in Washington, DC. Nadira has a background in international law. She holds two LLMs - the most recent in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law.

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 the Executive Director of the Sexual Violence Research Initiative - the world’s largest network on research on violence against women and violence against children. 

Prof Lawrence Edwards

Lawrence Edwards is a 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. 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. 

CISKA KRUGER

DR Volker Schoer

Volker Schöer is an Associate Professor of Economics in the School of Economic and Business Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand. Volker holds a MA (Economics) from the University of Cape Town and a PhD (Economics) from the University of the Witwatersrand. 

Volker is the director of the African Micro-Economic Research Unit (AMERU) at the University of the Witwatersrand which focuses on quantitative impact evaluations. He has investigated active labour market policies and interventions in the education sector using experimental and quasi-experimental designs. While Volker’s research has covered a wide range of micro-economic issues in economic development (trade flows and policy, industrial policy, competition policy, labour markets, and firm dynamics), his current research focus lies predominantly within the field of quantitative education research. He has published in a number of international and local journals including International Journal of Educational Development, Journal of International Development, Review of Development Economics, South African Journal of Economics, and the South African Journal of Education. He has also consulted and collaborated widely with the World Bank, the IMF, the Swiss National Science Council, the National Treasury, the Department of Trade and Industry, the Centre for Learning on Evaluation and Results (CLEAR), the Department of Basic Education, and the Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training (Umalusi).