Bogolo Kenewendo

Speaker at the St. Gallen Symposium

Bogolo Kenewendo is the Minister of Minerals and Energy for the Republic of Botswana, a position she assumed in 2024. An economic diplomacy expert with over 15 years of experience, her career spans trade and investment, finance and development, and public policy. Previously, she served as a Specially Elected Member of Parliament and as Botswana’s Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, where she led reforms to improve the country’s business environment, stimulated investment, and chaired the Southern African Customs Union Council of Ministers of Trade. In this role, she played a central part in negotiating key trade agreements, including the EU Economic Partnership Agreement, the UK Post-Brexit Agreement, and the African Continental Free Trade Area. Before her current appointment, Ms Kenewendo was a Special Advisor to the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions, where she advanced non-state actor engagement in climate action and helped develop innovative mechanisms for sustainable finance. Her work contributed to the launch of major initiatives such as the USD 20 billion UN Climate Action Projects Compendium, the Africa Carbon Markets Initiative, the Africa Green Hydrogen Alliance, and the Africa Climate Risk Insurance Facility for Adaptation. Ms Kenewendo has also held various leadership and advisory roles, including as Chairperson of Bank Gaborone, and as Non-Executive Director of the Africa Free Trade Area Adjustment Fund Corporation. She has served on the G7 Gender Equality Advisory Council, the UN Secretary-General’s High-Level Panel on Digital Cooperation, the advisory group on the gender architecture of the UN, and the group on Financing for Development. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Botswana and a master’s degree in international economics from the University of Sussex. She also completed an executive education programme in Global Leadership and Public Policy for the 21st Century at the Harvard Kennedy School.