Lerato Mbele

Lerato Mbele is a Broadcaster, Development Practitioner, Relationship Builder, African culture advocate & Thought Leadership facilitator.

Her career has spanned the fields of international broadcasting, talkshow hosting, writing, story telling and media consulting. She is also passionate about economic development in Africa and is formally trained in this field.

She is the 2023 Recipient of one South Africa’s highest honours (2023) the Charlotte Maxeke Women in Leadership Award – for her work done in international broadcasting.

She is the owner of “Moon Landing Africa Navigator” (pty) Ltd & proprietor of the African Leadership Dialogues series. In her native home South Africa, she currently hosts a daily talkshow & podcast titled “PowerTalk with Lerato Mbele”.

Prior to this Lerato Mbele spent nine years as a TV presenter and broadcaster for the global news organization BBC World News.

She hosted the BBC’s main Africa-focused business shows “Talking Business Africa”, “In Business Africa” and “Africa Business Report”, as well as hosting international documentaries such as “Follow the Food” and programming that linked Africa’s relationships in global trade, commerce and international development institutions.

Lerato Mbele has also been a senior business anchor at CNBC Africa and also a prime time news anchor in her native South African Broadcast Corporation.

She has worked as a foreign policy researcher and advisor, as well as heading the multiparty democracy programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs. Here she was co-editor of the book “Designing Democracy in Africa” with Ayesha Kajee.

Her international journalism has seen her interview global leaders, chief executives and Nobel Laureates – amongst others being Bill Gates, Ajay Banga, Christine Lagarde, Kristelina Georgieva, Richard Branson, Sundar Pachai, Graça Machel, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Wole Soyinka, Muhammed Yunus, the late Kofi Annan & Wangari Maathai, President Paul Kagame, President Thabo Mbeki, Prime Minister Gordon Brown and other leaders.

She has moderated numerous plenaries at the World Bank, World Trade Organization, New Development Bank (BRICS Bank), World Economic Forum, UNGA, UNECA, OPEC Fund Development Forum and AfDB.

Lerato Mbele is a Chevening Scholar who holds an MSc Development Studies from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London.

She was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, in 2014 chapter.

Lerato Mbele was recently awarded one of South Africa’s highest honours (2023) the Charlotte Maxeke Women in Leadership for her contribution to media and broadcasting across Africa. An honour given to her by the Minister of International Relations & Cooperation, and the South African government in the a recognition of her broadcast journalism across Africa and the developing world, which they stated has helped to change narratives about Africa in the global community.

She has appeared on the power lists of the Oprah Magazine, NewAfrican Women, Leading Ladies Africa, the Star Newspaper, featured in the Mail & Guardian’s biography of the most influential women in South Africa titled “On the shoulders of giants”.

She’s also a former member of the council and board for the University of Cape Town, ranked Africa’s premier university and institute of higher learning by all internationally accredited measures. Ms. Mbele joined the board of Project2morrow in 2025.