Bertha Tobias is a Rhodes Scholar and PhD candidate in Geography and the Environment at the University of Oxford, researching the political economy of Namibia’s emerging oil sector. She holds an MSc in Sustainability, Enterprise and Environment from Oxford University and graduated from Claremont McKenna College with a BA in International Relations as a member of Phi Beta Kappa (the most selective academic honour society in the United States, awarded to undergraduates in the top 10% nationally).

She currently works in investment banking, in the trade and treasury solutions department focused on commodity value chains and cross-border finance in extractive industries, and has prior experience at TotalEnergies, a global oil supermajor. 

She is President of the Oxford University Africa Society and Lead Convenor of the Oxford Africa Conference 2026, and the creator of Spotlight by Bertha Tobias, a nationally televised podcast produced by an 11-member team and broadcast on Namibia’s biggest TV channels.