About
Dr Mandira Bagwandeen has experience working with local and international think tanks, corporations, and government departments. Currently, based at Stellenbosch University, she lectures on International Relations and Global Political Economy.
Before joining Stellenbosch University, she was a Senior Research Fellow at the Nelson Mandela School of Public Governance at the University of Cape Town (UCT), where she undertook research on Africa's Regional Integration and Development, with a specific focus on the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), and the Political Economy of Africa-China Infrastructure Developments, specifically railways. She also taught International Relations at the postgraduate level at UCT's Department of Political Studies.
Mandira has produced commentary and written several articles on African development and China-Africa issues for peer-reviewed journals and various South African and international media outlets. She's been cited in the South China Morning Post, Africa Report, Le Monde, China Global South Project, BBC News, Network 24, Xinhua News, The Council on Foreign Relations, and eNCA. She holds several affiliate positions with South African and international think tanks and organisations, including: The New South Institute, The African Centre for the Study of the US (University of the Witwatersrand), Conflict, Peacebuilding and Risk Unit (Stellenbosch University), the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (Foundation for Strategic Research), Foreign Policy Research Institute (2021–2025), African Studies Centre (Metropolitan University Prague), and the Afro-Sino Centre of International Relations (ASCIR).