Benedict has been working with the EIU on Africa for a decade. He is the principal economist for the region and also heads its research on financial risk. His specialisms include currencies, debt, financing, the external sector and the interplay between geopolitics and Africa's growth prospects in a world of increasing competition for raw materials. He holds a Graduate Diploma in Economics from the University of London and an M.Sc. in Economics applied to banking and financial markets from the University of Bath.

Wayne is the managing partner of the Johannesburg office of Control Risks and joined the company
in 2014. He has more than 28 years of risk advisory and investigative experience having worked for
the South African government as well as private companies.
He has conducted major (US) Foreign Corrupt Practices Act investigations on behalf of multinational
clients and provided risk advisory services to a range of clients in the US, Middle East and Africa.
Wayne was previously a Chief Investigating Officer in the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), a
specialized law enforcement agency in South Africa that was mandated to investigate serious
economic offences and transnational organized crime. He also served as the head of investigations
for the Asset Forfeiture Unit where he was responsible for overseeing financial investigations and
asset tracing. After leaving the DSO he joined the foreign service of South Africa and served as a
senior diplomat in the United Nations Security Council and dealt with sanctions measures.

Chris Hattingh is Executive Director at the Centre For Risk Analysis (CRA). With a special focus on trade, investment, and economic matters, as well as foreign policy, Chris serves on the Executive Board of the Global Trade and Innovation Policy Alliance, sits on the advisory council of the Initiative for African Trade and Prosperity and is a member of the George Ayittey Society.

Chris holds an MPhil (Business Ethics) from Stellenbosch University. In his role at the CRA, Chris leads strategic engagements and briefings to clients across South Africa, as well as globally.

Sam is a trained economist specialising in understanding the complexities of the South African economy. Prior to joining the EICN, Sam spent time in both the public and private sector, first as an economist within the Economic Policy division of the National Treasury, and then as a consulting economist at Econometrix, and Deloitte. During his time in private sector, Sam specialised in analysing events and government policies to dilute these into constructing business strategies. Sam also spent time in Switzerland as an economist for airline industry body IATA. Sam holds a masters degree in economics from Stellenbosch University, and has studied further at the Insitute for Social Studies in The Hague, the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam and the Levy Economics Insitute of Bard College in New York State.