Solly Molepo is a Deputy Director at South African Department of Trade and Industry (the dti), under Industrial Development Division (IDD). He is responsible for agro-processing sector and specifically is spearheading industrial development of niche industries. Prior to joining the dti, he was the Senior Agricultural Economist at Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (DAFF) and Western Cape Provincial Department of Agriculture. At DAFF Solly worked on Africa bilateral trade issues and also involved in agricultural trade research. He spearheaded the market access of both smallholder and commercial agricultural producers in the Western Cape Province.

Solly was involved in graduate programme with Cargill South Africa and Industrial Development Corporation (IDC). He qualified, at the top of his class, as an agricultural economist at the University of Limpopo (UL). He completed Masters of Agricultural Economics at the University of Limpopo and is currently completing Masters of Industrial Policy (IP) with the University of Johannesburg.