Dr. Jaya Josie

• PhD in Economics (University of the Western Cape/University of Antwerp)
• MPhil and PhD candidature in Economics (School of Oriental and African Studies)
• Economic Sciences (University of Algiers).

Dr Jaya Josie is a development economist with more than 40 years of experience in public finance policy, macroeconomic and fiscal policy, and intergovernmental fiscal relations. Much of his work has focused on the application of public finance and economic policy to address inequality, unemployment and poverty.

He holds a PhD in Economics from the University of the Western Cape (UWC), undertaken in partnership with the University of Antwerp. He also completed an MPhil and PhD candidature at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, in 1996, followed by an internship at the International School of Public Administration (ISPA) in Paris in 1997.

Dr Josie has extensive experience across academia, government institutions, research organisations and the private sector. He lectured in Public Finance at UWC's School of Government and served as a part-time lecturer in Public Finance and Development Economics within the Economic and Management Sciences Faculty. He subsequently served as Head of the BRICS Research Centre at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) until his retirement in 2019. His private-sector experience includes serving as Director of Development Economic Services at Ernst & Young South Africa.

In 1994, Dr Josie was appointed as a Commissioner of South Africa's Financial and Fiscal Commission (FFC). He subsequently served as Deputy Chairperson and Director of Research, remaining with the Commission until 2007. Through these roles, he made significant contributions to research and policy development on public finance, fiscal decentralisation and intergovernmental fiscal relations during an important period in the development of South Africa's democratic fiscal system.

His international development experience is extensive. On behalf of international development agencies, he has undertaken research, advisory assignments and training in countries including Sudan, Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, South Africa, Nepal, Nigeria, India and Mexico.

A major highlight of Dr Josie's career was his appointment by the South African BRICS Think Tank (SABTT) to coordinate and prepare the BRICS Long-Term Vision and Strategy for submission to the BRICS Think Tank Council in 2014. The Strategy identified five pillars for long-term BRICS cooperation and development. Its principal elements were subsequently endorsed and incorporated into the Fortaleza Declaration adopted by the BRICS Heads of State in July 2014.

2016/18: Lead Coordinator and Principal Author of the Commission Report, Presidential Remuneration Review Commission, South Africa

2015: Member of the Academic Committee International, Centre for Internet Finance & Innovation (CIFI), Zhejiang University

2015: Member of the Academic Committee International, International Monetary Institute (IMI), Renmin University

2013: Appointed Council Member to Statistics Council South Africa

• Josie, J. (2026, forthcoming). Accounting for inequalities, fallacies and betrayal of economic development and public investment pre and during thirty years of democracy. In G. Huston (Ed.), Review of thirty years of democracy. University of Venda.
• Chetty, K., Gopal, Josie, J., Wen, W., Yarygina, I., & Yudina, M. (2026). Artificial intelligence for inclusion: A public BCRICs financial AI platform. Finance: Theory and Practice, 30(1), 103–119. https://doi.org/10.26794/2587-5671-2026-30-1-103-119
• Chetty, K., Josie, J., Ben, S., & Wang, Z. (2023). Promoting financial technology partnerships in BRICS. In F. Y. April, M. Kanyane, Y. D. Davids, & K. Chetty (Eds.), The BRICS in Africa: Promoting development. Human Sciences Research Council. https://doi.org/10.1515/9780796926555-013.
• Josie, J., Chetty, K., & Davids, Y. D. (2023). Lessons in sustainable development for South Africa from the affordable housing policies of the BRICS countries. In F. Y. April, M. Kanyane, Y. D. Davids, & K. Chetty (Eds.), The BRICS in Africa: Promoting development. Human Sciences Research Council. https://tinyurl.com/3yv3cy57
• Pillay, K., Prinsloo, C., Josie, J., Naidoo, F., & Chetty, K. (2023). Financing renewable energy technologies in BRICS. In F. Y. April, M. Kanyane, Y. D. Davids, & K. Chetty (Eds.), The BRICS in Africa: Promoting development. Human Sciences Research Council. https://tinyurl.com/4tbbctad
• Ncwadi, R., Josie, J., Dai, Y., Wu, W. D., Chetty, K., & Kolisi, N. (2022). Developing BRICS multilateral regional economic integration and promoting trade and investment in BRICS with future cross-border central bank digital currencies (CBDCs) [Research project report]. Nelson Mandela University & Zhejiang University International Business School. https://tinyurl.com/yxe9ua38