Talenta Mabasa is a lecturer in Economics at the Durban University of Technology (DUT) and a PhD candidate in Economics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), South Africa. Her research interests focus on financial development, institutional quality, digital finance and economic growth in emerging African economies. She holds s Master of Commerce in Economics from UKZN and has published research online arising from her master's dissertation on financial development and economic growth in Africa.

As an early- career academic, Talenta has extensive experience in teaching, curriculum development, student supervision, and quantitative analysis. Her current doctoral research investigates the nonlinear relationship between financial development and economic growth, with a particular emphasis on the roles of institutional quality and digital finance in African economies. Through her research and teaching, she aims to contribute to evidence-based policy discussions that promote inclusive and sustainable economic development across the continent.