Professor Imraan Valodia

Professor Imraan Valodia, an Economist, is Dean of the Faculty of Commerce, Law and Management, and Director of the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (Wits).

His research interests include: inequality, gender, competition policy and industrial development, and employment in developing countries.

In addition to leading a large Faculty with over 9000 students, Professor Valodia has played a central role in establishing and leading Wits University’s Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (SCIS).

Professor Valodia has led and participated in a number of large national and international studies. In the recent period, he led an international study, in 10 cities across the globe, of the informal economy using a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodologies.

Professor Valodia is a part-time member of the Competition Tribunal in South Africa. He is also a Commissioner of National Minimum Wage Commission and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (Assaf) Standing Committee on Science for the Reduction of Poverty and Inequality.

Professor Valodia has worked with a number of international institutions including the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) and UN Women. He is a member of the Board of the United Nations Research Institute for Social Development (UNRISD)