Lerato E. Mdaka is an associate professor in the School of Management Sciences at North-West University whose work focuses on strengthening entrepreneurship ecosystems, innovation capacity, and sustainable development across Africa.
Prof. Mdaka plays an active role in strengthening international academic partnerships across Africa. She serves as the Africa Regional Chair for the Academy of Business and Emerging Markets. She is the international programme assessor for the Pan African University network supporting the development of entrepreneurship curricula across African Union institutions in Algeria, Kenya, Nigeria, Cameroon and South Africa. She also serves as an International Subject Matter Expert for the Eswatini Higher Education Council, contributing to higher education quality assurance across universities in Eswathini. Beyond Africa, She spearheads international experiential-learning collaborations with institutions in Europe, UK, Africa, Asia, and North America, facilitating global entrepreneurship and service- learning projects that enrich interdisciplinary student experiences.
Before academia, she worked as Business Development Manager at the Research Institute for Innovation and Sustainability and the marketing manager for the Southern Africa Innovaton Summit, contributing to innovation development initiatives and industry partnerships. Lerato specializes in enterprise development and open innovation across private and public sectors and supports township- based tech startups as an Entrepreneurship Mentor at The Innovation Hub, South Africa.
Her research interests intersect digital transformation, innovation, and sustainable entrepreneurship, supported by the NRF Early-Stage Research Grant and CSIR-DSI Inter-Programme Grant and NRF Thuthuka Post Doc grant.
Prof. Mdaka’s work has received several recognitions for teaching, research, and social impact. She is a recipient of the North-West University Excellence Award for Community Engagement; Excellence in Research Quality Award; Excellence in Teaching Award; the ENACTUS South Africa Faculty Advisor of the Year (2022) and National Administrator of the Year (2021) for her mentorship of student social entrepreneurs.
Back to Profiles