Lesotho’s former central bank governor, Retselisitsoe Matlanyane, was appointed finance minister in the southern African nation’s new government.
Matlanyane, who was the first woman to serve as head of the central bank, became a lawmaker after winning her constituency in elections last month and was named in Prime Minister Sam Matekane’s first cabinet.
She is an accomplished economist and seasoned policy maker with vast experience in Finance. Prior to her illustrious career at the Central Bank of Lesotho, Dr. Matlanyane was a Lecturer at the Economics Department of the National University of Lesotho. She previously served at various Universities and regional and international institutions in different capacities, including as Board Member and Vice Chairman of the Board of the Lesotho Revenue Authority; Chairman of the African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association; Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Macroeconomic and Financial Management Institute (MEFMI) and a member of the Steering Committees of AFRITAC (Technical Assistance Centre) South of the IMF and Africa Training Institute (ATI). She has also served as an Economist in the African Department of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). She continues to serve various local and international professional institutions in varying capacities, including as representative of SADC Central Bank Governors in the Financial Stability Board Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa; a Board Member of MEFMI. In addition, she has, and continues to lead financial sector reforms including modernization of payment systems, legislative changes that enable development of the financial system, promotion of financial inclusion, modernization and strengthening of governance structures of financial institutions and advocacy for access to finance, especially for women.
Dr. Matlanyane holds a PhD in Economics with specialization in Macro-econometric and Economy Wide Modelling from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, a Master’s in Economics from the University of Botswana and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics from the National University of Lesotho.
Source: Bloomberg.com / aercafrica.com