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We have highly trained staff, with specific areas of expertise. Read more about an individual staff member below:


Prof Nicola Theron

Nicola Theron is the managing director of Econex and heads the Competition Practice. She is also an Extraordinary Senior Lecturer at the University of Stellenbosch where she teaches courses in competition economics. She holds a Masters degree in Economics cum laude from the University of Pretoria, and a PhD (Economics) from the University of Stellenbosch.

Dr. Theron has been involved right from the start with the new competition dispensation in South Africa. She was the expert economist for the first large merger handled by the competition authorities at the end of 1999 (Santam and Guardian National Insurance). Since then, she has provided expert witness and numerous economic reports for various large clients in proceedings before the Competition Commission and the Competition Tribunal. She also previously served as a part-time member of the Competition Tribunal.

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Prof Rachel Jafta

altRachel Jafta is co-founder and director of Econex. She is a Professor in Economics at the University of Stellenbosch. Her research  interests are in industrial economics, economics of innovation, international trade and Black Economic Empowerment. She has also published in all these fields. She holds a B. Econ (Hons) from the University of the Western Cape, an M. Econ and a PhD (Economics) from the University of Stellenbosch.

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Dr Willem Boshoff

Willem H. Boaltshoff is a director of Econex and a business economist at Stellenbosch University where he teaches graduate econometrics, macroeconomics and managerial economics in the Department of Economics.

Willem holds an MSc in Management Research with distinction from the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford and an MComm in Economics from Stellenbosch University. Willem specializes in business and competition economics (including quantitative analysis). He has worked with Econex on projects in the telecommunications, IT, media, petrochemical, food and tobacco industries.

 

Johann van Eeden

Johann vaaltn Eeden holds the position of Senior Economist with Econex, where he specialises in competition economics and industry analysis, especially the telecoms sector. His academic qualifications include a Mcomm (Economics) cum laude, completed at Stellenbosch University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and a LL.M. (Law and Economics) from the University of Vienna. Johann was both a European Commission Scholar and South Africa House Scholar during his respective postgraduate studies abroad. His undergraduate background is in finance and financial economics.

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Mariné Erasmus

alt Mariné Erasmus heads the Health Economics unit at Econex. She is a Senior Economist with a solid track record in health economics research and publications. At undergraduate level Marine studied B.Comm (Law) at Stellenbosch University and then completed both her Honours and Masters degrees in Economics cum laude, also at Stellenbosch University. She also spent a semester studying in the U.S.A. as an exchange student. More recently, Mariné completed an applied course in Health Economics at the University of California, Berkeley.

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Ernst Fitschen

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Ernst Fitschen is an economist with Econex. Ernst started his academic career in accounting and completed an Honours in Accounting from Stellenbosch University. His interest in economics led him to subsequently complete both a Bcomm (Honours) in Economics and a Mcomm (Economics) also from Stellenbosch University. Ernst was also recently awarded a scholarship to further his studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Ernst's unique combination of an accounting and an economics background makes him especially adept for projects where these two disciplines intersect, for example the recent Econex assessment of royalty calculations for South African radio broadcasters.

 

Laurie Binge

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Laurie Binge is an economist with Econex. He holds a Bcomm (Honours) degree in Financial Economics cum laude from Stellenbosch University and an Mcomm (Economics) cum laude completed at Stellenbosch University and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

Laurie held departmental bursaries for all his years of study at Stellenbosch University and at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. Laurie’s undergraduate and graduate studies centered predominantly around finance and financial economics and his Master’s thesis topic was on whether capital controls are relevant for emerging market economies.

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Joel Maboreke

altJoel holds a Masters in Business Science degree from the University of Cape Town. Joel has specialised quantitative skills, gained through his undergraduate studies in Actuarial Science. His Masters thesis used a genetic algorithm to determine the optimal monetary union arrangements for African countries.Since joining Econex in 2011, Joel’s work has predominantly been in competition analysis, with an emphasis on data analysis and modelling for both mergers and abuse cases. He has also worked on modelling alternative investments and the analysis of media advertising. Joel also has an interest in healthcare economics, and has contributed to the research into competition in healthcare markets, conducted on an ongoing basis by the Econex Health department.

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Helanya Fourie

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Helanya joined Econex in 2013. She completed her MComm (Economics) at Stellenbosch University in 2009, after which she spent three years working as a senior economist for the Western Cape Department of Agriculture. Her research predominantly focused on issues relating to the efficient use of natural resources. Helanya has presented at international conferences and has published in local and international journals on this issue.

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