Bogolo Kenewendo


Bogolo Joy Kenewendo is an economist and politician, who serves as the Cabinet Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry, in the Cabinet of Botswana, effective 4 April 2018.

Background and education

Kenewendo was born in Motopi Village in the Boteti Area, in Botswana circa 1987. After attending primary school, she enrolled in Pitzer College. She was then admitted to the University of Botswana, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics. Later, she obtained a Master of Science in International Economics from the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. She is also a Certified Project Manager.

Career before politics

Bogolo Kenewendo's areas of specialization include financial sector development poverty alleviation industrial development policy trade related issues trade and investment policy trade and investment regulatory frameworks macroeconomic policy public debt management export development and trade policy, among others.
For a period of time after her postgraduate studies in the United Kingdom, Kenewendo worked as a trade economist in the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry. She also served as an economic consultant at Econsult Botswana, a Gaborone-based think tank.

Political career

In 2016, the then president of Botswana, Ian Khama, nominated Kenewendo to the Parliament of Botswana, where she was elected as a presidential nominee to parliament. On 4 April 2018, the new incoming president, Mokgweetsi Masisi, appointed Kenewendo as the new Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry. She was sworn-in the same day.
In her capacity as minister, Kenewendo was appointed by United Nations Secretary General António Guterres in 2018 to the High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation, co-chaired by Melinda Gates and Jack Ma.

Personal life

In her spare time, Kenewendo meditates, travels and reads.