Sanlie Middelberg’s academic credentials include a PhD in Management Accounting, and she is also a Fellow Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA) with the UK-based Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Sanlie’s research focuses on agricultural finance in Africa, including value chain financing, credit assessment, collateral and agricultural valuations. Sanlie has published a number of peer-reviewed articles in international journals including two articles in the Financial Management members’ magazine of CIMA.
Sanlie was awarded a research grant from the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in both 2017 and 2015. The first project is titled: Attractiveness of Zambian farm blocks for investment in agriculture, while the second project is titled: Value chain financing in agriculture: The case of Zambia. In 2016 Sanlie was awarded a Y-rating (young researcher) by the National Research Foundation. In 2014 she was awarded the overall best paper as well as the best paper in the management accounting category at the 2014 regional Southern African Accounting Association conference held in Parys, South Africa. She was invited to act as a panelist at the national PhD conference in Accounting, Economic and Management Sciences at the University of South Africa (UNISA) in Pretoria, South Africa during 2014. She was also invited in 2013 as a plenary session discussant during the second annual International Agricultural Risk, Finance and Insurance Conference held 16-18 June, 2013 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Additional discussants represented some of the world’s top contributors in this area, including Joseph Glauber, the Chief Economist of the United States Department of Agriculture. Sanlie currently serves as the chairperson for the CIMA Centre of Excellence (COE) which is a panel responsible for reviewing research applications and awarding research grants for CIMA.
Sanlie’s work experience includes 18 months in the investment banking sector in the United Kingdom and 5 years in the petroleum industry in South Africa as a refining accountant, internal auditor and senior internal auditor.