SA academics join Lindau meetings in Germany

Four local academics will join scientific and economy boffins from across the world at the world-renowned 7^th Lindau meetings on Economic Sciences to be held in Germany from 23 to 27 August 2022.

Economics lecturers and a Doctor of Business Administration student from Regent Business School will participate for the first time.

Two out of the four candidates are sponsored by Regent Business School to physically attend the meetings and will be amongst 427 young economists from 69 countries. The other two candidates will be in attendance virtually.

The annual scientific conference brings together young scientists and economists alongside Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry, physiology, and medicine, as well as economic sciences from across the world to increase participation and research in the natural sciences and in economics across Africa.

Ignitius Molepo, a second-year Doctor of Business Administration student at Regent Business School said the sponsorship to physically attend the Lindau meetings on Economic Science is a blessing as it will be the first time he will be travelling out of Africa.

“It is an honour to have the opportunity to interact personally and to share in the wealth of knowledge of so many Nobel laureates.

“This is a great challenge for me as I will be attending the event that provides a world-renowned forum for the exchange between Nobel laureates and emerging young economists across the world with the goal of building an international exchange of knowledge among nations, cultures, and disciplines.

“I will be interacting with our global counterparts and engage in the next generation of economic theories and challenges that we face in the world,” he said.

Molepo will be networking with academic partners and meeting well-known Nobel Prize holder in economics, Sir Christopher A Pissarides.

The 32-year-old will partake in discussions with other students focusing on the digitalisation economy and discussing how it will impact our inflation and economy from a South African perspective.

He said he will also be visiting their library for his research which focuses on creating a data management framework for sustainable organisation performance for SMEs in Limpopo, South Africa.

Dr Christelle Meniago, senior lecturer in economics said every social scientist dreams of attending the Lindau meetings on economic sciences.

“Besides being a platform for exposure, it is an opportunity to engage and interact with some of the global leaders in the field. At the meeting, one also has the privilege to network immensely with other young economists from all over the world, and it goes without saying that this will pave a way for future research collaboration.

“Without the sponsorship, this would have never been possible. I will be eternally grateful to Regent Business School for sponsoring me to have this unique lifetime opportunity,” she said.

Aarifah Razak, an economics lecturer at Regent Business School who will be attending lectures virtually said she is keen to hear the viewpoints of renowned economists on issues such as income inequality, auction markets for energy, climate change, the efficiency of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and labour market dynamics as these issues are relevant to our South African economy.

“I am thankful to Regent Business School who has given me the opportunity to attend this meeting,” she said.

Sanaya Meherjina, an economics lecturer at Regent Business School who will also be attending virtually said given the ever-changing global environment, she feels that this meeting will be a great platform for her to learn from and be inspired by the lectures and discussions.

The 29-year-old also registered herself to be part of their online community – the Lindau Alumni network which is a platform that has a world map providing participants with a quick overview of Lindau Alumnus and young economists near us.

“The platform also offers a chat function where we can send personal messages via the Lindau Alumni network, during and after meetings. There is also a group created so that participants can connect with each other and share ideas. This platform will be ideal for me and even open opportunities to future research collaborations,” she said.