Elizabeth Sidiropoulos

Biography

Elizabeth Sidiropoulos is the chief executive of the South African Institute of International Affairs, which she has led since 2005. She has published widely in her areas of focus - on South African foreign policy, Africa and external powers and global governance. Since December 2020 she serves on the UN’s High-Level Advisory Board on Economic and Social Affairs. In 2025 she was co-convenor of the SA Think 20 process under the SA G20 presidency. She also worked closely with the SA Department of International Relations and Cooperation on various G20 processes and, in particular, the G20@20 review, where SAIIA, together with the OECD and the University of Toronto were the knowledge partners. She also served in the Secretariat of the G20 Development Working Group in 2025. In 2026 she was appointed as a member of the International Advisory Council (IAC) of the Vivekananda International Foundation’s National Security Journal.