Ronak is a Director at Signal Risk, a fellow at GIBS and the co-founder of Mindflux Training. He was previously the Head of Country Risk at Rand Merchant Bank, where he worked for almost a decade. He is a political economist, “pracademic”, writer and speaker. His work focuses on the intersection of politics, economics and business in Africa.
A prominent voice in print, radio and television in both the local and international media, Ronak has made frequent appearances on the likes of CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera and CNBC Africa, and publishes regular opinion and analysis pieces. In addition to advising international governments on their Africa policies and strategies, he has also spoken at several of the world’s top universities and at leading Africa-focused policy and business conferences as a moderator, panellist and keynote speaker.
Ronak is a 2019 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow, an alumnus of the Asian Forum on Global Governance, as well as the young African Leadership Initiative. In 2016, he delivered a powerful TEDx talk entitled Embracing Africa: Beyond the Binaries. He also serves in a number of advisory roles, most notably the Institute of Security Studies’ ENACT programme, which builds knowledge and skills to enhance Africa’s response to transnational organised crime.
Ronak holds a BCom degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) with Business French as well as a BCom (Hons) in Financial Analysis and Portfolio Management from the University of Cape Town (UCT). He also has an MSc in Finance (Economic Policy) through the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) in London
