Hannah leads the Insights team at Deloitte Africa, which specialises in producing thought leadership, cross-industry business issue and economic insights publications for the firm. In this capacity, Hannah also leads Knowledge Management for Deloitte Africa. Hannah also serves as the firm’s acting Chief Economist since November 2022.
Over the last almost 17 years, Hannah has worked with corporate and government leaders, providing research, analysis and insights that assist in strategy formulation and implementation in Africa and emerging markets.
Hannah has previously been visiting faculty at the University of Stellenbosch Business School and has lectured at various local and international business schools. Hannah has also led and facilitated international trade, investment and research delegations into Africa, Asia and Europe.
Hannah works across Deloitte Africa delivering on client engagements that include development-focused and economic research, and currently is leading research projects on key topics including climate and sustainability, energy transition, the future of payments and the future of food. She forms part of the firm’s global economist network, and various EMEA-wide or global Deloitte research and eminence forums.
She is a regular guest speaker at local and international thought leadership events and a contributor to various publications, focusing on Africa’s economic and commercial development.
Hannah holds a MComm degree in Economics (cum laude) from the University of Stellenbosch.
Prior to joining Deloitte in 2015, Hannah was one of the co-founders and a director at Frontier Advisory.
Hannah Marais
Head Economic Unit, Deloitte, South Africa