Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe 2025 Speaker

“Ndaba Nkosinathi Gaolathe is the Vice President and Minister of Finance of the Republic of Botswana. He is also the Member of Parliament for Gaborone Bonnington-South. He is the Vice President of the Umbrella for Democratic Change (UDC) and President of the Alliance for Progressives, one of the UDC’s member parties.

Gaolathe is a highly impactful, world-class leader recognised for his creative, analytical, and diplomatic attributes. He possesses the skills and capacity to lead any corporation, government department, or political entity. He has operated internationally and succeeded in establishing long-term coalitions with a diverse range of organisational structures across numerous countries. He consistently demonstrates an ability to function at all levels and has collaboratively worked with a broad array of institutions across various sectors and disciplines, including restructuring, macroeconomic and monetary policy, portfolio management, financial structuring, scenario modelling, company and institutional restructuring, management strategy, executive management, and political leadership.

Before entering politics, Gaolathe was a community activist. He founded a volunteer initiative over twenty years ago to assist struggling young people in succeeding in Cambridge O-level examinations, particularly in Mathematics. He also empowered them in various other subjects such as English, general knowledge, survival skills, and entrepreneurship. Since 1991, he has hosted a class of more than 40 students every year, from when he was a university student until 2014. He was involved in several other community and church organisations both in and outside Botswana.

As an economist, his involvement in politics stemmed from his role in speechwriting for Botswana’s former President, Mr. Festus Mogae, whom he occasionally advised on economic and various matters of national interest. Ndaba Gaolathe also served as Chairman of the Gomolemo Motswaledi campaign, founded by Gomolemo Motswaledi, a political visionary whose organisation is now part of the current government.

Gaolathe has extensive experience in economics, strategy, governance, finance, modeling, and leadership. He has worked with economic think tanks, governments, and investment banks at all levels, both regionally and internationally.

Gaolathe holds a Master of Business Administration (MBA) in Finance from the Wharton School of Business, a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Mathematics, and a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Economics from George Washington University.”