Lerato Mbele Presenter, Africa Business Report, BBC World News Lerato Mbele is presenter of Africa Business Report on BBC World News television. Lerato joined the BBC in 2012 as presenter of flagship breakfast radio programme, Newsday on BBC World Service. Prior to that, Lerato served as a Senior Business Anchor for CNBC Africa. She hosted a variety of business focused programming and specials including presidential debates in South Africa, Nigeria, Tunisia and for multilateral organisations like the African Development Bank and United Nations. Lerato is the co-editor of Designing Democracy, having worked as a researcher at the SA Institute of International Affairs. 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, Public Interest and 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. In March 2014, Lerato Mbele was named a Young Global Leader, by the World Economic Forum in Geneva Switzerland. She has also been nominated for other awards. She is the recipient of a literary award from the World Association of University of Women. Lerato is a Chevening Scholar and a regular speaker at international conferences on Africa and economics. She has hosted 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. She is also a graduate of the Universities of Cape Town & Stellenbosch. August 2013 .