The changing and declining efficacy of states globally and the growing role of business to fulfil its responsibilities will be discussed in more depth during the Global Citizen webinar series on Tuesday, 27 June. This will be held in the Odeion Theatre at the University of the Free State’s (UFS) Bloemfontein campus. The one-day event is organised by the UFS and the South African Chamber of Commerce in the United Kingdom (SACC-UK).
A panel of experts will share their thoughts during the discussion titled “The Rising Global Quest for Social Justice: The Role of Business, Investment Funds and Corporate Leaders”.
The panel includes Prof. Francis Petersen, vice-chancellor and principal of the UFS; Sharon Constançon, chairperson of SACC UK; and highly respected economist Dr Iraj Abedian, founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of Pan-African Investment and Research Services.
Abedian is expected to shed light on how the needle has shifted to make state-capture-linked corporate citizens pay reparations for their role in damaging South Africa’s economy.
The university stated that discussion will further explore approaches to leverage the strengths and potential still inherent among South Africans and the country’s international diaspora, to set the country on a promising trajectory and regain much-needed confidence in its future.
Abedian was professor of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT) before entering the business sector in 2000.
He obtained his BA (Honours) and MA degrees in Economics at the same institute, and received his PhD in Economics from the Simon Fraser University in Canada in 1993.
He has served as a consultant on economic policy issues to public and private sector organisations in South Africa as well as internationally. His involvement in policy development in South Africa includes the transformation of the Development Bank of Southern Africa (1995); the RDP White Paper (1995); Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR 1996); Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF 1997/’98); the Presidential Review Commission (PRC 1997/’98); membership of the president’s economic advisory panel from 2006 to 2009; and acting as economic adviser to the minister of mineral resources of the South African government from February 2010 to July 2012.
