Jacquelene Friedenthal is the Science and Technology Counselor at the Embassy of Switzerland in Pretoria since 2010. She leads the African location of swissnex: the Swiss global network connecting the dots in education, research, and innovation. This network’s mission is to support the outreach and active engagement of partners in the international exchange of knowledge, ideas and talent.

She works in collaboration with the University of Basel – the Swiss leading house for Africa – to enhance cooperation in education, research and innovation with South Africa primarily. The instruments for cooperation include the: Swiss South African Joint Research Projects, Swiss South Research Chairs and the Swiss African Business Innovators.

Jacquelene has previously worked as the Deputy Director for the Department of Science and Innovation, where she focused on bilateral cooperation with Europe and the Gulf States. She initiated a number of science and technology agreements including the Swiss South Africa Science and Technology Agreement that was signed in 2007. Prior to this, she worked at the Embassy of Denmark on topics of renewable energy and energy efficiency in line with Denmark’s development cooperation with South Africa and several SADC countries.

A key interest for Jacquelene is Environmental Health and Planetary Health with a focus on applied research and innovation interlinked with addressing societal challenges at the core.