LYAL WHITE, PHD
Founder, Contextual Intelligence
Prof Lyal White is the founder of research and advisory practice Contextual Intelligence, an Associate Professor of International Business Strategy at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS), University of Pretoria, and a Research Associate with the Brenthurst Foundation. In his personal capacity, Lyal partners on various education intiatives from Edtech solutions for small businesses in low-income communities in South African to senior leadership consortia and dialogues around the globe.
A strategic advisor on leadership, strategy and contextual intelligence in Africa and new markets, where he focuses on nuanced approaches to learning for development, his areas of interest and expertise cover a broad range of interdisciplinary fields, with a particular focus on comparative political economy and strategy in Africa, Asia and Latin America and building impactful businesses. He is widely published in news media, academic journals and books, and a regular commentator on radio, television and social media.
With a keen interest in measuring and understanding the complexity and opportunity around context, and how this relates to a global mindset, the way countries, firms and individuals improve their competitive performance balanced with purpose and impact is key. To this end, Prof. White has undertaken various studies and developed indices around metrics of performance and economic progress.
Lyal has lived and worked in South Africa, Rwanda, Argentina, Colombia, Morocco and the US. He is an active board member of the Association of African Business Schools (AABS), to which he was elected in June 2019, and a member of the Growth-Ten Academic Advisory Board.