Sanlie Middelberg’s academic credentials include a PhD in Management Accountancy, and holds a professional qualification of Fellow Chartered Management Accountant (FCMA) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (ACMA) with the global Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). Sanlie’s research focuses on finance and management accounting mainly in the agricultural sector. This includes areas such as value chain financing, credit assessment, collateral and agricultural valuations. Sanlie has published a number of peer-reviewed articles in international academic journals and numerous magazines including Farmer’s Weekly and the Financial Management (CIMA’s member magazine).

Prof Middelberg is a South African National Research Foundation (NRF)-rated researcher (ratings are “allocated based on a researcher’s recent research outputs and impact as perceived by international peer reviewers”), part of CIMA’s global Research & Development Panel and chairs the CIMA Southern African Regional Research Centre. Her corporate experience includes 18 months in the investment banking sector in the United Kingdom and five years in the petroleum industry in South Africa. She 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. Prof Middelberg’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.