Iraj Abedian is a graduate of the University of Cape Town (UCT), and holds a PhD in economics from Simon Fraser University in Canada. He taught at UCT for more than 18 years as a professor of economics, before joining Standard Bank as group chief economist in 2000. He was extensively involved in economic and financial policy as well as institutional restructuring of South Africa’s public finance policy after 1994. Alongside active involvement in private equity investment in Africa, Iraj maintains a keen interest in public policy issues and is proactively engaged in professional discourse related to the evolving socio-economic system worldwide.