Celebrating Excellence: Professor Ermie Steenkamp Shaping Africa’s Trade Future

The WTO Chairs Programme at North-West University (NWU) proudly celebrates Professor Ermie Steenkamp on her promotion to full professor, recognising her outstanding contribution to the WTO-WCP since its inception. This achievement marks a distinguished academic career defined by rigorous research, policy relevance, and a lasting impact on trade development in South Africa and across Africa.
Professor Steenkamp’s work exemplifies the integration of rigorous academic research with meaningful policy impact. Her early contributions applied the Decision Support Model (DSM) to identify high-potential export opportunities for South Africa, equipping policymakers with robust, evidence-based tools to prioritise markets and support export diversification.
Building on this foundation, her research has expanded to the African continent, where she has led pioneering studies mapping untapped intra-African trade opportunities under regional frameworks such as the Tripartite Free Trade Area. This work has identified hundreds of actionable product–country matches, with a strong emphasis on processed goods that advance industrialisation and deepen regional integration.
She currently leads the development of an innovative visual trade analytics platform under the African Trade Enhancement Initiative. This cutting-edge tool translates complex trade data into accessible, real-time insights, enabling policymakers to identify strategic export opportunities, evaluate market access conditions, and align national trade strategies with evolving global and regional demand.
Through her sustained contributions, Professor Steenkamp strengthens South Africa’s trade policy architecture while advancing evidence-based regional integration across Africa. Her work reflects the core mission of the WTO Chairs Programme: to bridge research and policy, and to generate knowledge that delivers tangible development impact.

Prof Steenkamp's inaugural lecture can be viewed at the following link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kWUO3jmDspI