Acacia Economics

"Acacia's blend of strong theoretical foundations and deep contextual research is exactly the environment where I want to grow, contribute and learn."

Acacia Economics welcomes Kara Ranwell as an Economic Researcher! "What excites me about joining Acacia Economics is the opportunity to work on rigorous, meaningful casework across different sectors, especially in African digital markets and financial services."

She also brings extensive experience in health economics and regulation. Rahma holds an MSc in Applied Economics from the UCT, and an MSc Economics from Tilburg University in the Netherlands

Rahma has over 13 years of experience in economic research, including varied experience in competition economics having worked in competition at the Competition Commission and the private sector. Rahma has worked on key regulatory cases and inquiries in ICT and Digital sectors.

We are excited to announce Rahma Leuner as a partner at Acacia. Rahma has been a Principal at Acacia Economics for the last three years. Her sharp mind, attention to detail and careful consideration of economic issues makes her a valuable member of the core team.

We are excited to announce that @RahmaLeuner has joined us as a Principal Economist. Rahma has an MCom in Economics from the University of Cape Town, and has 10 years of experience working on the economics of competition & regulation at the Competition Commission & in consulting.

Last week I had the honour of presenting my work, as a representative of @AcaciaEconomics on potential competition in digital markets across various jurisdictions at the #ACER2022 conference in Malawi.

ICASA spectrum auction results in expanded fifth mobile operator in South Africa (@rainSouthAfrica ), raising R14.5bn for the fiscus. Expect lower data prices soon from a lower cost, more competitive mobile sector. @AcaciaEconomics assisted @ICASA_org with the auction design.

Megan Friday has just joined the team as a Junior Economic Researcher. She holds an undergraduate degree in law and economics, both an honours and a masters degree in economics, all from the University of Stellenbosch.

We are pleased to welcome Zubair Patel as a Junior Economic Researcher! Zubair works on the economics of competition and regulation. He holds an undergraduate degree in economics and finance and a master’s degree in economics from the University of Cape Town.

Lukasz Grzybowski & my paper on benefits of competition vs regulation in the mobile sector in SA is now available in IJIO! Thanks to @CCRED_UJ & @econrsa for funding, to @frankverboven and two reviewers at IJIO for comments, @DataFirstAtUCT and UCT HPC: reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/…

Looking forward to discussing digitalization and the business environment focusing on Africa for the @ITU . So many interesting applications with real development benefits need to be unlocked in a context of poor affordability, high infrastructure costs and regulatory challenges.

@ICASA_org has announced the invitation to apply for high-demand spectrum - we are pleased to have supported this : techcentral.co.za/icasa-spectrum…

Access Denied @UChicagoLaw GHRC @altadvisory @AcaciaEconomics report on access to the internet and the right to education available here - internetaccess.africa/access-denied/. Being launched now at #FIFAfrica20

Please join us live discussing the lack of #InternetInSchools in South Africa at #FIFAfrica20, over here: youtube.com/watch?v=tQ988U…

#MeetThePanelists How does Internet Access look like in pre & post COVID19 times? We shall have a report from #SouthAfrica... @AvaniS_RSA2 @MikePowerRSA #FIFAfrica20 #InternetFreedomAfrica #DigitalRights @AfricaNetRights @iwatchafrica @GlobalPartnersD @grisglobal @uproar_fyi

High Court holds that Telkom must enter into negotiations to lease its ducts, in favour of ICASA's decision - does this unleash a new wave of #openaccess #telecommunications in South Africa? Decision here: drive.google.com/file/d/1IKke9z…

Please join me in a webinar on the buyer power guidelines and implications from a competition and policy perspective.

Now that e-commerce has been fully re-opened, read @shaistac's article on how this can be used to support growth

Competition & financial inclusion questions are similar in Jamaica & several African countries. We enjoyed assisting the Ministry of Finance, @CentralBankJA & Fair Trading Commission on their study on competition among banks (pictured with David Miller, Executive Director, FTC).