Professor of Economics

Faculty of Commerce, Human Sciences and Education

Inaugural Lecture

Title SOLVING THE GROWTH PUZZLE: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM NAMIBIA AND SOUTHERN AFRICA

PROFILE OF PROF TAFIRENYIKA SUNDE

Professor Tafirenyika Sunde is a Full Professor of Economics in the Department of Accounting, Economics and Finance at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) and an Extraordinary Professor in Trade and Development at North-West University, South Africa. He is an applied economist and econometrician with more than 25 years’ experience in university teaching, research, postgraduate supervision, policy engagement and academic leadership in Southern Africa.

He holds a Doctor of Literature and Philosophy in Economics from the University of South Africa, an MSc in Economics and a BSc Honours in Economics from the University of Zimbabwe. His academic career began at the University of Zimbabwe and later included Gweru Teachers College and Midlands State University, where he lectured and chaired the Department of Economics. Since joining the Polytechnic of Namibia, now NUST, in 2008, he has progressed through the ranks of Lecturer, Senior Lecturer and Associate Professor to Full Professor. He also served as Associate Dean of the Faculty of Management Sciences from 2012 to 2015 and Chairperson of the Department of Economics from 2018 to 2022.

Professor Sunde’s research spans trade and development, macroeconomic and monetary policy, public finance, energy economics, financial development, labour markets, housing, poverty, SME development and regional economic transformation. He specialises in applied econometrics, including ARDL and NARDL modelling, VAR and structural VAR analysis, time-series methods, causality testing and panel-data techniques. A defining feature of his scholarship is the use of these methods to explain policy-relevant economic relationships in Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, the SADC region and wider African contexts.

His work appears in international economics, finance, development and policy journals. His widely cited 2017 article on foreign direct investment, exports and economic growth in South Africa has received more than 400 Google Scholar citations, while his overall scholarly profile has attracted more than 1,000 citations. His recent publications address poverty in Windhoek’s informal settlements, trade policy and SMEs, rural electrification, financial literacy, tax revenue, fiscal and debt sustainability, uranium-price shocks and digital financial inclusion in sub-Saharan Africa.

Beyond publishing, Professor Sunde has led and contributed to major policy-oriented projects, including the socio-economic impact assessment of the Skorpion Zinc Mine closure and maintenance, Namibia’s mineral-beneficiation strategy, the national gender pay-gap study and the Namibia Business Innovation Centre business plan. He has supervised more than 30 MBA and MIB graduates and several doctoral candidates and has examined master’s and doctoral research for universities across Namibia, South Africa and the wider region. He helped develop NUST’s Bachelor of Economics, Bachelor of Economics Honours and Master of Applied Econometrics programmes, thereby contributing directly to economics and econometrics training in Namibia.

His academic service includes journal peer review, external assessment of promotion dossiers, institutional governance and nomination to Namibia’s National Implementation Committee for the African Continental Free Trade Area. His achievements include the NUST Researcher of the Year award for the Faculty of Management Sciences in 2017 and the Polytechnic Researcher of the Year award for the School of Economics and Finance in 2012. His current and future research agenda focuses on digital financial inclusion, climate and energy-transition risks, fiscal and debt sustainability, SME development and the use of evidence to advance inclusive, resilient and sustainable development in Namibia and Africa.