CEF chair and former Reserve Bank chief economist Monde Mnyande dies

Central Energy Fund chair and former Reserve Bank chief economist Monde Mnyande died at the age of 63 on Sunday after a short illness, minister of mineral resources & energy Gwede Mantashe announced. 

Mnyande joined the Reserve Bank in 1995 and held a number of positions in the research department before becoming head of the department, chief economist and executive general manager. He went into early retirement in 2012. During his 17-year tenure, Mnyande worked under three governors — Chris Stals, Tito Mboweni, who is now finance minister, and Gill Marcus.

Mnyande was appointed to chair the CEF board in October 2019, filling the position that had been vacant for months after the former chair was dismissed by then energy minister Jeff Radebe in the wake of serious allegations.

Mnyande was tasked with the responsibility of bringing good governance to the CEF and all its subsidiaries. Key to this, was the rationalisation of PetroSA, the Strategic Fuel Fund (SFF) and IGas to form a single National Petroleum Company

“I loved three characteristics about Monde,” Mantashe said in an online video. “One was his clarity of thought, two is his thorough economic analysis and, thirdly, his stubbornness. 

“The combination of those three helped us in the beginning to shape CEF’s space within the department of energy.”

Mnyande matriculated at St Johns College in Umtata (now Mthatha). He held a BA and an MA (finance) degree from Webster University in St Louis, Missouri, the US, an MBA degree from St Louis University and an MA and PhD (economics) from the New School University in New York.

steynl@businesslive.co.za