Dr Nthabiseng Moleko, a senior lecturer and economist at the University of Stellenbosch Business School, was the first woman in South Africa to receive a PhD in the field of development finance, according to the Stellenbosch Business School website. Dr Moleko’s aim is for her work as a development economist to have a long-term impact. She spoke to SMF News’ Kuhle Tshabalala about her life in and out of the economics and finance industry.
Dr Nthabiseng Moleko’s strong interest in the allocation of resources in African nations dates back to her university days as an undergraduate student at the University of Cape Town (UCT). This marked the beginning of a groundbreaking research journey that would see her become the first woman in South Africa to receive a PhD in development finance, according to the Stellenbosch Business School website.
“I understood this issue of allocation and distribution of resources to be a political issue,” says Moleko, who now lectures at the University of Stellenbosch Business School (USB). “With all this money in the financial ecosystem, how come it wasn’t leading to transformative outcomes and leading to change in poverty?”
‘Having impact’
For Moleko, it pays to see the difference her work makes in the community and how her journey has inspired the younger generation and society at large to pursue their dreams.
“The biggest thing for me is about having impact,” says Moleko in an interview with SMF News. “One of the biggest areas of things I’m proud of is that young people who are in finance […] can now see themselves as economists, as financiers, as chairmen, and board members of entities that can influence the national growth path”.
Dr Nthabiseng Moleko was the first woman in South Africa to receive a PhD in the field of development finance, according to the Stellenbosch Business School website. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
A people’s person
In her capacity as a development economist and a key faculty member at the USB, Moleko has been a senior lecturer and economist since 2017, according to the Stellenbosch Business School website. With experience as a former CEO of the Joe Gqabi Economic Development Agency and as project manager and researcher with the Eastern Cape Socio-Economic Consultative Council, she has a wealth of experience in the economic development sector, according to the website.
Dr Paul Gbahabo, Moleko’s colleague, describes working with her as a great experience.
“She’s achieved so much within the short space that she graduated,” says Gbahabo. “She’s a high achiever, hard worker, and also very compassionate.”
Gbahabo also says that Moleko is a people’s person and someone whom people like to be around.
“I attended her graduation party. It was fantastic,” said Gbahabo. “She was able to pull a large crowd […] It’s not everybody that’s able to pull a crowd.”
Bold and unstoppable!
A peek into Moleko’s childhood reveals someone who is bright and enthusiastic. Her youngest sister, Leseli Moleko, fondly remembers those childhood days, giving a description of a young girl with a quiet spark that grew into something bold and unstoppable.
“Nthabiseng has always been an embodiment of strength, brilliance, and mischief,” says Leseli. “She was the queen of pranks – a Loki of sorts. And that’s the thing: Often, the rebel, the one causing harmless trouble in high school, turns out to be the genius.”
But although her older sister was mischievous, she was always very thoughtful, says Leseli.
In 2022, Dr Nthabiseng Moleko was appointed to the new broad-based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) advisory council announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa, according to the South African government website. PHOTO: Kuhle Tshabalala
‘A long-term game’
Moleko takes a keen interest in doing research that is important in the current and future economy of South Africa.
In their 2020 research, Moleko and Prof Mark Swilling, the director of the centre for sustainability transitions, proposed a different economic plan for South Africa, which could double the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030 and move 10 million people out of poverty. The plan focuses on labour-absorbing strategies, rural development, and domestic food production, as well as investments, domestic resource mobilisation, and private sector participation, among other strategies, says Moleko.
One of the specific areas that Moleko’s research area focuses on is pension funds and the role that they play in South Africa’s economy. The key enablers to pension funds include the ability to use infrastructure, carefully allocating capital, managing risks, ensuring appropriate returns, operating within a policy environment that is certain, and anticipating future developments, she says.
“You’ve got to look at the use of infrastructure, but it’s a long-term game,” says Moleko. “We haven’t utilized [pension funds] sufficiently, […] but also because of the history in our country.”
‘The difficult stuff’
Having served as a commissioner for the Commission for Gender Equality, appointed by the president in 2017, and currently serving as the deputy chairperson of the commission, Moleko works to promote gender equality within the economic sector, according to the Stellenbosch Business School website.
Moleko says her research process looks at procurement within education and the proportion of women within the economic sector, along with what should be done to have redress. She encourages women to pursue growth in economics, challenge themselves, and do “the difficult stuff”.
“In terms of the economics education side, I talk to the issue of encouraging women to do hard econometrics,” says Moleko. “I teach statistics [and] tell them not to be scared to be quantitative.”
Prioritising impact
In her current role as a researcher, Moleko’s top priorities include aiming for long-term solutions and finding the right economic models that will be effective for better development outcomes.
“Issues in the labour market and the different economic development spheres are always around, making sure that we can change our economic models [and] transform [them] for impact,” says Moleko. “Outcomes [should] lead to poverty alleviation, employment, lessening inequality, [and] redistribution of wealth amongst Africans, and particularly South Africa.”
Research should yield gains and be evidence-based, she says, adding that there are too many research institutions with outcomes that do not speak to South Africa’s essentials, and that, most of the time, the policy trajectory is not changed based on evidence.
Dr Nthabiseng Moleko has been a senior lecturer and economist at the University of Stellenbosch Business School since 2017. She spoke to SMF News’ Kuhle Tshabalala. INFOGRAPHIC: Kuhle Tshabalala
‘Be the best’
Amongst development finance and gender equality, Moleko’s passion for education is mainly because of her parents. They taught her and her siblings the value of education and doing everything with excellence.
“They instilled in us a culture that, even if you’re going to be a cleaner, my dad used to say: ‘Be the best cleaner,’” says Moleko. “He used to say he wants us to all have PhDs at home. This is literally something that is becoming a reality.”
Given Moleko’s many roles as a senior lecturer, economist, researcher, poet, author, and commissioner, amongst others, she manages to balance work and personal life through faith, exercise, and journaling by using various strategies to maintain her well-being.
“All I can say is the grace of God. So, I do a lot of praying [and] ask God for strength and I also asked the Holy Spirit to help me,” says Moleko. “I also exercise, so I’m very fit – I believe strongly in exercise, so, if I’m not traveling, I’m [exercising] at least an hour.”
Moleko says that, as an author, poet, and writer, she also processes things through writing. When she is enjoying her weekend or is out with family and friends, she enjoys her time to the fullest and does not like talking about finance and economics.
“I’m very strict with my weekends,” she says.
‘Serve’
Moleko encourages young people who are aspiring to make a difference, in whatever space they are in, to have faith and serve.
“My biggest message to the youth and to young people is to have a relationship with God,” says Moleko. “You must serve your family, serve people around you, [and] have a heart that wants to serve your community, because out of that is a great deal of satisfaction and contentment.”