Professor Fiona Tregenna

Professor Fiona Tregenna holds the DSI/NRF South African Research Chair in Industrial Development, heading this centre of research, capacity-building, and public and policy engagement. She is also a Professor of Economics at the University of Johannesburg. She served on the Presidential Economic Advisory Council of the 6th Administration, since its inception in 2019. 

She serves on a number of other panels, councils and boards, such as the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Advisory Council, the International Commission of Experts on Financing for Development, and the UNU-WIDER Board. Fiona has advised international organisations such as UNIDO, UNCTAD, the UNU and the ILO, and has contributed to a number of flagship United Nations reports. 

She is an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), and sits on several ASSAf bodies. Her research focuses primarily on issues of structural change, industrialisation and deindustrialisation, and innovation and technological upgrading. Fiona holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Cambridge.