Dr Yacoob ABBA OMAR is Director Operations at MISTRA, a position he previously occupied from 2013 to 2016. He was the head of strategy at the Banking Association South Africa (BASA) since January 2017 until his return to MISTRA in January 2021. He has held several positions in the public sector, having served as South Africa’s Ambassador to Oman from 2003 to 2008, and then to the UAE from 2008 to 2013, Deputy CEO of GCIS from 1998 to 2002 and GM: Corporate Affairs at Armscor.

He has served on the Boards of SA Tourism, Business Arts South Africa and was chair of the Board of Trustees of the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC). He has led two country scenarios for the office of the South African Presidency, as well as lectured on Risks and Scenarios at post-graduate level. He completed his PhD through the Wits University Dept of Sociology in 2017, focusing on national identity and sovereignty. He is a Business Day columnist and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the Indlulamithi Scenarios Project is an Advisory Committee member of The Public Economy Project, located at the Southern Centre for Inequality Studies (Wits) and a member of the ANC’s Renewal Commission.