M. Kgothatso Semela

Kgothatso brings 23 years of senior management experience as a practitioner in the civil service, international development organizations and civil society. Amongst other leadership roles, she was formerly the Senior Program Manager & OIC for International IDEA’s Africa Program, the Senior Specialist for Women, Peace and Security, UN Women (Southern Africa Multi Country Office), and a Policy Advisor for the African Union Political Affairs Department. Most recently she was the Technical Lead for the South Africa APRM and Open Government Partnership.

She was instrumental in conceptualising and establishing the Pan African Ministers of Public Service, the African Union Anti-Corruption Board and has provided technical advisory services for multilateral entities such as UNDP, the EU, GIZ and the Southern Africa Electoral Commissions Forum.

A seasoned strategist, her areas of expertise include public sector governance, gender and politics, democratic governance and citizen engagement, donor management and fundraising, and monitoring and evaluation. She has published in various publications such as Politikon, institutional policy briefs South African Institute of International Affairs Occasional Papers and as a co-editor of book entitled African Parliaments: Systems of evidence in practice.