Lerato Mataboge

South Africa

Occupational Information

Job Title: Deputy Director-General for Export Promotion, Development and Outward Investments for the South African government

Professional History

Lerato Mataboge is the Deputy Director-General for Export Promotion, Development and Outward Investments (EPD&OI) in the South African Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the DTIC).  In this role, she provides strategic support and advice to the departmental leadership and the presidency on engaging global stakeholders for economic growth. Prior to this, Lerato founded and headed Trade Invest Africa, an initiative of the DTI aimed at creating sustainable partnerships with the private sector to obtain greater levels of intra-African trade and intra-African investments. In this role, she facilitated infrastructure and industrial projects into the rest of Africa as part of marketing South Africa through Trade Invest Africa.

She previously held the position of Chief Director for Africa at the DTI with the responsibility of strengthening South Africa’s bilateral relationships with countries on the African continent. In June 2011, she completed her four-year term as a diplomat when she was South Africa’s Chief Trade and Investment Representative to the USA  in Washington D.C.

Lerato says she is a passionate advocate for Africa’s economic growth and development.  She was featured in the Destiny Magazine’s Power 40 under 40 in November 2015 in recognition of her leadership on African economic issues. She was co-chairperson of the South African Presidential Working Group on the North-South Corridor (2011-2015). She serves on the Board of the Export Credit Insurance Corporation of South Africa (ECIC). She is a Chevening Scholar.

Qualifications

BA Law and International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand
BA (Honours) in International Relations from the University of the Witwatersrand
Masters degree in International Political Economy (International Trade and Global Finance) from the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom
Various Certificates in trade negotiations, bilateral investment treaty negotiations, etc., from the European Institute of Public Administration in the Netherlands and WTO/UNCTAD
Executive training with thesis from Harvard Kennedy School of Government

Program

2010 Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow

 Additional Tags: Law, International Relations, Political Economy, Trade, Global Finance