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Honorable
Bogolo Kenewendo
Honorable Bogolo Kenewendo
	Bogolo Kenewendo at the World Investment Forum 2018
Minister of Minerals and Energy
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; November 2024
President	Duma Boko
Vice President	Ndaba Gaolathe
Preceded by	Lefoko Maxwell Moagi
Special Advisor and Africa Director to the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions
	Incumbent
	Assumed office ; June 2022
High-Level Champions	Razan Al Mubarak; Mahmoud Mohieldin; Nigel Topping;
Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry
	In office; 4 April 2018 – November 2019
President	Mokgweetsi Masisi
Vice President	Slumber Tsogwane
Succeeded by	Peggy Serame
Member of the United Nations Secretary-General’s High-level Panel on Digital Cooperation
	In office; 12 July 2018 – November 2019
Secretary-General	António Guterres;
Co-chairs	Melinda Gates; Jack Ma;
Member of the Parliament of Botswana
	In office; 27 October 2016 – 04 April 2018
President	Ian Khama
Personal details
Born	1987 (age 37–38); Botswana
Nationality	Botswana
Education	University of Botswana; (Bachelor of Arts in Economics); University of Sussex; (Master of Science in International Economics)
Occupation	Economist and politician
Website	https://www.kenewendo.com/

Bogolo Joy Kenewendo (born c. 1987) is a Motswana economist and politician. Brought back to Botswana Parliament this year, she is the incumbent Minister of Minerals and Energy in the current administration after serving as Cabinet Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry of Botswana.^[1]^[2]^[3] Kenewendo was dropped from cabinet in November 2019. Since then, she served as the Managing Director of Kenewendo Advisory, based in Gaborone, Botswana.^[4] She leads Molaya Kgosi Women Leadership and Mentorship Program and the Board Chair of Molaya Kgosi Trust.^[5]^[3]

In June 2022, Kenewendo was appointed as Special Advisor and Africa Director to the United Nations Climate Change High-Level Champions.^[6]

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 in Botswana. 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.^[7] She received training in Economic Freedom Philosophy from the Foundation for Economic Education.^[8]

Career before politics

For a period of time after her postgraduate studies at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom as Chevening Scholar earning an Msc International Economics, Kenewendo worked as a trade economist ODI Fellow in the Ghanaian Ministry of Trade and Industry. She also served as an economic consultant at Econsult Botswana, a Gaborone-based think tank.^[8]^[9]

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.^[9]

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.^[10] As the Minister of Investment, Trade and Industry in Botswana, she implemented reforms to significantly improve the ease of doing business, open up both domestic and international markets, and position the country to succeed in the global value chains as well as the digital economy. During her tenure, she was the youngest Cabinet Minister in Africa and in Botswana’s history.^[11]

Kenewendo was cited as one of the Top 100 most influential Africans by New African magazine in 2018.^[12]

When the United Kingdom assumed the presidency of the G7 in 2021, Kenewendo was appointed by the country's Minister for Women and Equalities, Liz Truss, to a newly formed Gender Equality Advisory Council (GEAC) chaired by Sarah Sands.^[13]

2024 set a different tone for Kenewendo and Botswana as she was specially elected to be a Member of Parliament under the new administration, sworn in as minister of Minerals and Energy.