Rate My Professor Pfano Mashau

Professor Pfano Mashau is Director of the DUT Business School at Durban University of Technology, a position he assumed in July 2024. He is an NRF C-rated Professor and holds the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Future-Fit and Inclusive Entrepreneurship for a Pan-African Society. He also serves as Chairperson of the Institutional Research Ethics Committee. Professor Mashau previously held the position of Associate Professor at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in the School of Management, IT, and Governance, where he was appointed Academic Leader in Research and Higher Degrees in 2023. He earned a PhD in Management Sciences with a focus on innovation and agglomeration economics from the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

His research specializations include small business development, innovation, business management, entrepreneurship, and agglomeration economies. Prior to his academic career, he worked with organizations including Bioregional Africa, JET Education Services, and eThekwini Municipality. Professor Mashau has authored over 70 research articles, two edited books, and has presented work at international conferences. He has supervised ten doctoral theses to completion and more than twenty master’s dissertations. He has served as an editor for a journal and books, and is a member of the Black Management Forum, BRICS Youth Forum, Pan African Research Council, and the Centre for Business and Economic Research in London. He is an IBASA-certified business advisor. In his role as Director, he oversees academic programmes, drives strategic initiatives, builds industry partnerships, and focuses on developing pathways for professionals to advance to doctoral level within the DUT Business School.