Trudi Makhaya is an acclaimed South African economist, entrepreneur and writer, with several published papers focusing mainly on competition economics and economic policy.

She recently completed a five-year stint as the Special Economic Advisor to President Cyril Ramaphosa.

Trudi holds a BCom degree in Economics and Law, a BCom Honours degree in Economics as well as a master’s degree in Economics from the University of Witwatersrand. She also holds an MBA and an MSc in Development Economics from Oxford University, where she was a Rhodes Scholar.

Currently, Trudi holds a portfolio of interests including being a Senior Advisor to the Boston Consulting Group, a member of the Investment Committee at the Jobs Fund, and an early-stage investor in Kasi Insight, a decision intelligence company.

She was the Chief Executive Officer of Makhaya Advisory, a boutique consulting firm she founded in 2015.

Her previous experience also includes serving as the Principal Economist and later acting as the Deputy Commissioner of the Competition Commission of South Africa. She has also held various management consulting and corporate positions at Deloitte South Africa, Genesis Analytics and AngloGold Ashanti.

Trudi has also served in non-executive director positions at the Vumelana Advisory Fund and at MTN South Africa from 2014 to 2018.

She was appointed a non-executive director on the Board of The Spar Group Limited with effect from 01 September 2023.