Financing Manager, The Presidency of the Republic of South Africa
Neil Cole has more than 20 years professional experience in the field of Public Finance and international financial relations.
Between 2001 and 2013 he worked for the National Treasury of South Africa in senior management positions in the Budget Office and in the International Economic Policy divisions. His responsibilities included: policy advice and implementation of budget reforms; expenditure planning of national government; co-ordination of the national budget process; policy advice on South Africa’s engagement with the rest of Africa; and served as a country representative to several bilateral forums and multilateral development banks.
While at the Treasury, Neil represented South Africa on the committees that drafted the Accra Agenda for Action and the Busan Partnership for Effective Development Co-operation.
From 2013 till 2022 he served as the Executive Secretary of the Collaborative Africa Budget Reform Initiative; an inter-governmental organisation that provides a platform for peer-learning and exchange for approximately 30 African ministries of finance and planning. During this time he also served as a faculty member of the KSG (Harvard) Public Finance Executive Training Course, and was invited in 2016 to join the Harvard Ministerial Leadership Forum as a faculty member.
He currently teaches a course on public finance for social protection at the International Training Centre of the ILO.
Neil joined SA’s Just Energy Transition implementation team in July 2022. His main focus areas includes the mobilisation and deployment of pubic and blended funding.
His undergraduate and post-graduate qualifications cover public administration/policy, politics and economics.