Zulaikha is the practice head of the Financial Empowerment and Monitoring and Evaluation (FEM-E) Practice at DNA Economics. She is a development economist with over 16 years of research experience and 13 years of experience in programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation for government, multilateral institutions, donors, corporates, and NPOs. Zulaikha possesses a diverse skill set in research and M&E methodologies, allowing her to work across a wide range of sectors such as trade, finance, health, education, entrepreneurship, employment, and socio-economic development. To date, she has completed more than 100 evaluations and research studies. In the financial sector, Zulaikha has been involved in assessing outreach and financial literacy programmes, and undertaken substantive work on consumer protection, financial inclusion, and financial integration across SADC.
Zulaikha serves on the board of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association (SAMEA) in the positions of Deputy Treasurer and Deputy operations and leads the SAMEA M&E in Impact Investing portfolio. Zulaikha is also the co-lead of the Impact Measurement and Management (IMM) Working Group of Impact Investing South Africa (IISA).
Zulaikha began her career as a junior economist at the Development Bank of Southern Africa, before moving to African Bank as a strategy analyst and behavioural economist. She then joined DNA in 2012, working as a consultant in the Trade and Regional Integration (TRI) and M&E practices. In 2019, she moved to Trialogue as the divisional manager of Corporate Social Investment (CSI) and M&E, before returning to DNA in her current position. Zulaikha holds a BCom Honours in Economics from NMU and a Masters in Development Finance from the University of Stellenbosch.