About Raymond Parsons

Experience across academia, business and public policy

Current roles

Professor Raymond Parsons is a professor at the North-West University (NWU) Business School and Chairman of the Business School’s Advisory Board.

He is also an Honorary Professor at Nelson Mandela University (NMU) and has been appointed as an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the Western Cape.

Career and public service

He studied economics at the Universities of Cape Town, Oxford and Copenhagen before playing a leading role in organised business in South Africa. He is a former Director-General of the South African Chamber of Business (SACOB).

He was Deputy CEO of Business Unity South Africa (BUSA) until 2012 and subsequently a Special Policy Advisor to the organisation until April 2014.

He has lectured in the Department of Economic and Management Sciences at the University of Pretoria. From 2000 to 2003, he was a visiting professor at the School of Economic and Business Sciences at the University of the Witwatersrand.

He was the Overall Business Convenor at the National Economic Development and Labour Council (NEDLAC), South Africa’s major social dialogue institution, until 2010.

Former President Thabo Mbeki appointed him to the Board of Directors of the South African Reserve Bank in 2004, and he was reappointed in 2008. He was also a director of the South African Mint.

Policy Uncertainty Index

Professor Parsons was mainly responsible for creating South Africa’s first quarterly Policy Uncertainty Index (PUI), launched under the aegis of the NWU Business School in 2016.

He contributes to public and academic debate on issues central to South Africa’s political economy and is a recognised authority on the economy and its implications for the business community.

Honours and appointments

He holds an honorary doctorate from Nelson Mandela University. In November 2024, he received his second honorary doctorate from the North-West University.

He is a past president of the Economic Society of South Africa (ESSA). In 2017, ESSA conferred honorary life membership on him in recognition of his distinguished contribution to the economics profession in South Africa.

In August 2024, North-West Premier Lazarus Mokgosi appointed him to the province’s new Economic and Investment Advisory Council to advise on economic development.

Media recognition

In 2023, Professor Parsons received two annual NWU Media & OCBR Awards as the academic who generated the most media coverage for the university in 2022.

Books and publications

He is the author or editor of eight books. Visit Publications for book covers, available purchase links and selected journal articles.

1. The Mbeki Inheritance: SA’s Economy 1990–2004
2. Parson’s Perspective: Focus on the Economy
3. Manuel Markets and Money: Essays in Appraisal
4. Zumanomics: Which way to shared prosperity in South Africa?
5. Zumanomics Revisited: The Road from Mangaung to 2030
6. Good Capitalism, Bad Capitalism: the Role of Business in South Africa
7. Recession, Recovery and Reform: South Africa after Covid-19
8. Tipping Point – Turmoil or Reform? South Africa’s Political Economy after 2024

NWU expert profile · UWC appointment