Dr Tafara Ngwaru

Dr Tafara Ngwaru is a partner in the Human Development practice. He is based in Joburg.

Tafara is a senior economist with experience in research, human-development sectors financing, monitoring and evaluation. 

He has worked on a number of projects across sub-Saharan Africa focusing on health financing, specifically supporting clients on policy issues centred on system effectiveness, efficiency and equity. He has also held key roles in programme monitoring as a value-for-money specialist, as well as on evaluation projects in the health sector and those with a thematic focus on employment creation and empowerment.

Tafara is adept at applying a range of economics-based approaches and tools in the social sectors of health, education, nutrition and water. These include expenditure analyses, expenditure tracking, efficiency analyses and equity analyses. He continues to contribute to thought leadership in the global health financing arena through writing and presentations at conferences. His research interests also extend to HIV and economics, and he has led research exploring some of the social and economic drivers of HIV in Southern Africa.

Before joining Genesis, Tafara was the country manager for Oxford Policy Management (South Africa office) and leader of the organisation’s health-financing hub team that is based in Oxford. As country manager, he led the delivering of a regional strategy for the global consulting firm and as hub leader, on technical work on projects, with a range of clients that included government ministries, development finance institutions, foundations and donors.

Tafara holds a doctorate and master’s in Economics, and bachelor’s degree in Management Studies, all from the University of Cape Town.