Dr Martyn Davies is a globally recognised strategist, economist and keynote speaker with more than two decades of experience advising multinational corporations, governments and senior executives across Africa, Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
He is currently an Executive Advisor at the Royal Commission for Riyadh City (RCRC) in Saudi Arabia, where he leads the City Excellence Division and serves as Head of the Retail Sector. Prior to this, Martyn held senior leadership positions at Deloitte Africa, including Managing Director of Emerging Markets & Africa and Africa Automotive Industry Leader.
His automotive expertise is particularly relevant to organisations seeking to understand Africa’s position within the rapidly changing global automotive industry. During his time at Deloitte, Martyn advised global OEMs, automotive suppliers, industry bodies and governments, while regularly addressing automotive conferences on the forces reshaping the sector. His work has covered automotive industrialisation, regional value chains, mobility, localisation and the implications of changing global trade and investment patterns.
Beyond automotive, Martyn is highly regarded for his expertise in emerging markets, macroeconomics, international business, China-Africa relations, industrialisation and corporate strategy. Before joining Deloitte, he founded Frontier Advisory, a strategy and corporate finance advisory business that was subsequently acquired by Deloitte.
His achievements include being ranked South Africa’s No. 1 analyst in African Economies & Markets by the Financial Mail’s Annual Analysts of the Year Awards. He was also selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and has served on WEF advisory groups, including its Global Agenda Council on China.
Martyn has studied at Wits University and Yonsei University in Seoul, and has undertaken executive education at Harvard, Yale and Oxford. He is also a Visiting Professor at IE Business School in Madrid and a Professor of Practice at the University of Johannesburg.
