Where are you doing your post doc?

I'm a Postdoctoral Research Fellow under Professor Caroline Ncube, the DSI/NRF Research Chair in Intellectual Property, Innovation & Development in the Faculty’s Department of Commercial law.

What is the focus of your work?

In the main, my research focuses on the regulation and use of innovative financial technology (fintech) services and how the influence of intellectual property (IP) law in the financial services sector is growing.

I am pleased to have the opportunity, as part of my postdoctoral work, to mentor PhD students who are under the Chair's supervision.

Where did you do your phD, and what was your topic?

I did my LLD at North West University (read a full article on Dr Torerai here). My thesis focused on financial inclusion in Zimbabwe, titled A comparative statutory analysis of the use and regulation of mobile money to promote financial inclusion for the poor in Zimbabwe. 

How does your post doc work build on your PhD, if at all?

The focus of my current research does not necessarily build on my thesis (which I intend to publish as a monograph). My postdoc research concentrates more on current innovative and regulatory developments in the fintech and IP law domains. Working with Prof Ncube ensures I am in the best place for exposure to the latest developments in intellectual property law thinking, and to work in the fintech domain.

What are you hoping to achieve with your post doc?

Being positioned in this way, I am hoping to establish a research niche that fuses fintech and IP law. The financial services sector is gravitating to a place where fintech service providers and end-users need to be aware of their IP rights. So, while the research deals with current developments, the real excitement is in the extent to which it is futuristic, future-focused.

What are you excited about in your current research?

In line with the possibilities mentioned above, I wake up every day fascinated by evolving trends in the fintech and IP domains. There is very little to build on yet, and one has to wade into the proverbial unchartered waters to ensure productive, useful and insightful research outputs. Researching contemporary issues requires me to be on my toes and tapped into both thinking and practice on the ground – this is what makes it really exciting.