Dr Desné Masie is an interdisciplinary economist and journalist, specialising in international political economy and the creative industries, which is the focus of her research and engagement at the LSE Firoz Lalji Institute for Africa (FLIA) where she is a Visiting Senior Fellow.
Dr Masie engages actively across the LSE, collaborating with colleagues at FLIA and other LSE Departments and Institutes. She is currently looking into research on sustainability in the creative industries and nature markets.
Dr Masie is the Chief Executive of Intelligence Labs, a research and innovation hub and a columnist for Business Day.
Previously, she has held senior roles in academia, media and finance in the UK and South Africa. Dr Masie has advised governments and major multinational corporations on geopolitical risk, as well as on the financial sector, economic and public policy.
She was Professor of Practice in economics at Hult International Business School, the chief economist and Strategist at IC Intelligence, an editorial director of African Business magazine and the executive producer and founder of the African Business podcast. She was also a fellow at Wits School of Governance, where she lectured on public economics and international development. In the UK, she was the director of the Investec Investment Institute, the corporate relations manager of the Royal African Society, and a senior associate in financial services at Global Counsel. In South Africa, she has been a senior editor of the Financial Mail, a consultant at Alexander Forbes Financial Services, and an art director at DDB South Africa.
Dr Masie is also an accomplished public speaker and commentator. She is the recipient of a Pulitzer Center grant for her journalism. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, Business Life, International Business Times, Banking Technology Magazine, African Banker, African Arguments, and Vox. She has also provided commentary for BBC Newsnight, Le Figaro, Newsweek, Monocle Radio, the Africa Debate, Innovate Finance, Jersey Finance, and the BBC World Service.
She holds a PhD in Finance from the University of Edinburgh, MSc in Finance and Financial Law from the University of London, BA Hons in English from the University of South Africa, and BA English and Art History from the University of the Witwatersrand.
Research interests: Geopolitics, Economics, Nature Markets, News Media, Public Affairs, Arts and Culture
Region of focus: SADC, Nigeria, Kenya, UK, EU, BRICS, Africa in the International Political Economy
Expertise Details: Geopolitics, Economics, International Finance, Carbon Markets, Nature Markets, News Media, Public Affairs, Creative Industries, Culture and Society
LSE Events and Engagements:
LSE Publications:
Selection of Writing:
- Business Day Column
- Pulitzer Centre Page
- Carbon Markets Article, Vox August 2023
- Interview with Elizabeth Maruma Mrema, African Business magazine, July 2023
- The new geopolitics: Time for Brics+, African Business Magazine, June 2023
- In Conversation with Lord Jim O'Neill, African Business Magazine, June 2023
- The Climate Crisis: South African and Global Democratic Eco-Socialist Alternatives, pp. 314-337, 2018
- How Investors See South Africa, The Conversation Africa, June 2016
- Piketty in Africa, African Arguments, October 2015
- Africa Rising? The Guardian, November 2012