Dr Yacoob Abba Omar is a South African academic, diplomat, and public and private sector professional currently serving as the Director of Operations at the Mapungubwe Institute for Strategic Reflection (MISTRA). He is also a Commissioner on South Africa’s National Planning Commission (NPC)

Current Role: Director of Operations at MISTRA, a position he has held since January 2021.

Public Service: His public sector roles include serving as South Africa’s Ambassador to Oman (2003–2008) and the UAE (2008–2013), and as Deputy CEO of GCIS (1998–2002).

Private Sector & Other Affiliations: He was Head of Strategy and Communications at the Banking Association South Africa (BASA) (2017-2020) and serves as chair of the Board of Trustees for SANAC. He has also served on other boards like South Africa Tourism.

Academic and Advisory Roles: He earned a PhD in Sociology from Wits University in 2017. He is involved with the Indlulamithi Scenarios Project and contributes columns to publications like Business Day on geopolitics, economics, and politics.