About me

Hi there! I’m an applied development micro-economist focused on poverty and inequality in lower-income countries, primarily in Africa. Specifically, my work centres on labour markets and policy evaluation, with a focus on social protection, education, and technological change. My research has been published in World Development, Energy Economics, and BMC Public Health among other outlets, and I hold a Y1 rating from South Africa’s National Research Foundation (NRF), awarded through an independent international peer review.

I’m currently a Senior Research Officer at the Development Policy Research Unit (DPRU) based in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), South Africa; a Consultant for the World Bank’s Social Protection & Jobs Global Practice; and a Research Associate at the Research on Socio-Economic Policy (RESEP) unit at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. In 2025, I was a Visiting Scholar at the United Nations University World Institute for Development Economics Research (UNU-WIDER) in Helsinki, Finland in 2025. I regularly do economic advisory work for multilateral organisations such as the World Bank and UNU-WIDER, as well as several departments of the South African government including the Presidency, National Treasury, the Department of Employment and Labour, and the Department of Higher Education and Training. Prior to joining the DPRU, I worked as a Research Assistant for RESEP and a Research Intern in South Africa’s central bank.

I earned my PhD from UCT in 2024. Under the supervision of Haroon Bhorat, my thesis considers the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on labour market inequalities in South Africa. I earned my undergraduate, honour’s, and master’s degrees from Stellenbosch University, with Ingrid Woolard and Debra Shepherd serving as my co-supervisors for the latter.

On this site, you will find a repository of my work, including publications, working papers, reports, and several resources I find useful.