Erika van der Merwe is CEO of the South African Venture Capital & Private Equity Association (SAVCA), a non-profit member organisation whose objective is to promote venture capital and private equity in South Africa. It has around 100 members, who collectively account for about R130bn in assets under management. Van der Merwe holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) accreditation and has a master’s degree in economics from Cambridge University and from the former University of Natal. She joined the board of the CFA SA Society in 2012.