President Cyril Ramaphosa has appointed a new Presidential Economic Advisory Council (PEAC) as part of the seventh administration’s ambition for inclusive, sustainable economic growth and job creation.

The Council will provide critical economic advice and support in crafting policies that respond to domestic and global economic challenges.

The PEAC is an independent, non-statutory body that brings together a diverse group of local and international experts from various sectors, including academia, the private sector, labour, and civil society.

The members, appointed for the term of the seventh administration, will volunteer their time to assist the President in shaping the country's economic future.

The council, which will be chaired by Ramaphosa, will focus on promoting economic policies that foster inclusive growth and will draw on expertise across a wide range of economic disciplines, from macroeconomics and fiscal policy to labour economics, poverty, inequality, and urban development. Other areas of expertise include trade, energy, climate change, and the regulation of network industries.

The members of the PEAC are:

• Dr Renosi Mokate (Deputy Chairperson): executive chair of Concentric Alliance and chair of the Government Employees Pension Fund.
• Dr Antonio Andreoni: Professor of Development Economics at SOAS University of London and co-director of the Centre for Sustainable Structural Transformation.
• Professor Haroon Bhorat: Professor of Economics and director of the Development Policy Research Unit at the University of Cape Town (UCT).
• Dr Kenneth Creamer: Senior lecturer in the School of Economics and Finance at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits), specializing in macroeconomics and the just energy transition.
• Professor Esther Duflo: Abdul Latif Jameel Professor of Poverty Alleviation and Development Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and 2019 Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences.
• Professor Vusi Gumede: Dean of the Faculty of Economics, Development, and Business Sciences at the University of Mpumalanga.
• Professor Alan Hirsch: Emeritus Professor at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at UCT and founding director of the School.
• Ms Mamokete Lijane: Chair at Economic Research South Africa and strategist in gbal markets at Standard Bank CIB.
• Ms Trudi Makhaya: Senior advisor at the Boston Consulting Group and former Economic Advisor to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
• Professor Mariana Mazzucato: Professor in the Economics of Innovation and Public Value at University College London, founding director of the Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose.
• Mr Isaah Mhlanga: Chief economist and head of Global Markets Research at Rand Merchant Bank.
• Mr Kuben Naidoo: Former Deputy Governor of the South African Reserve Bank and head of Corporate Payment Channels at Investec.
• Mr Zeph Nhleko: Chief economist at the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
• Professor Dani Rodrik: Ford Foundation Professor of International Political Economy at the Harvard Kennedy School.
• Mr Wandile Sihlobo: Chief economist of the Agricultural Business Chamber of South Africa.
• Dr Vera Songwe: Senior fellow at the Brookings Institution and former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations.
• Professor Fiona Tregenna: DST/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development at the University of Johannesburg.
• Professor Imraan Valodia: Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management at Wits.
• Professor Ingrid Woolard: Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at Stellenbosch University.

Ramaphosa expressed gratitude to the appointees for their willingness to contribute to South Africa’s economic development, praising their strategic insight and commitment to tackling the country’s most pressing economic challenges. The Council is expected to play an important role in enhancing the capability of the State, which remains one of the government's top priorities for the current administration.