Dr Greg Mills

Dr Greg Mills is a visiting fellow at the University of Navarra in Spain and the strategic advisor to several African leaders. He was for 20 years the founding director of the Johannesburg-based Brenthurst Foundation, established in 2005 to strengthen African economic performance.

He holds degrees from the Universities of Cape Town and Lancaster, and served as director of studies and then as national director of the South African Institute of International Affairs from 1994 to 2005. 

Dr Mills has directed more than two dozen reform projects with African heads of government and served four deployments to ISAF in Afghanistan, as the advisor to the commander. A member of the Advisory Board and Senior Associate Fellow of RUSI, he is a regular contributor to international journals and newspapers. He is the author of several bestselling books including Why Africa Is Poor, Africa’s Third Liberation, The Ledger: Accounting for Failure in Afghanistan, Rich State, Poor State and The Art of War and Peace.

He has participated in motorsport internationally, achieving podium positions in several 24-Hour races, and is the president of the historic Killarney race track outside Cape Town. His most recent book draws together his different interests in The Essence of Success: Insights on Leadership and Strategy from Sport, Business, War and Politics, published by Penguin Random House in September 2025.