Lerato Mbele is presenter of Talking Business Africa and co-presenter of In Business Africa, two of BBC World flagship African programmes.

Lerato joined the BBC in 2012 as presenter of the renowned breakfast radio programme, Newsday, on BBC World Service. She then joined the Africa Business Report team, fronting the weekly television show until 2018 when Talking Business Africa and In Business Africa were launched in its place.

Prior to joining the BBC, Lerato served as a Senior Business Anchor for CNBC Africa when it launched in 2007. She hosted a variety of business focused programming and specials including presidential debates and the live CNBC Africa Debate at the World Economic Forum in Africa in 2009. Lerato was also previously the co-editor of Designing Democracy, an Anti-Poverty Ambassador for the Southern Africa Trust and a recipient of literature awards from the World Association of University of Women.

Lerato began her journalism career in 1999 at South Africa’s state-owned broadcaster The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC). She eventually served as an anchor for the channel’s daily news show News at 10 and also fronted the weekly show, The Ambassadors.

Lerato has interviewed notable political figures, including Nobel Peace Prize laureates Kofi Annan, Wangari Maathai and F.W de Klerk, and has also interviewed Bill Gates, Olusegun Obansanjo, Goodluck Jonathan, Uhuru Kenyatta.

Lerato is a Chevening Scholar and a regular speaker at conferences and televised debates, having participated the World Bank and IMF annual meeting in Washington DC and the UN Climate Change Summit COP17 in 2011. She also holds an MSc degree in Development Studies from The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London. In March 2014 Lerato was named by the World Economic Forum as one of its Young Global Leaders for 2014.