Tebelelo SERETSE

Description

WUSME AMBASSADRESS IN BOTSWANA

Former Ambassador to the USA, Tebelelo Seretse has been appointed as Chancellor of the University of Botswana in 2021.

She has the honour of being the first woman to be appointed Botswana’s Ambassador to the United States.
Since being posted to Washington, Her Excellency has already achieved several milestones in a relatively short period.
She was a Member of Parliament from 1999 to 2004. During this period she served as a Cabinet Minister holding three cabinet positions namely; Acting Minister of Presidential Affairs, Minister of Trade and Industry, Wildlife and Tourism and Minister of Works, Transport and Communications.
As Acting Minister of Presidential Affairs, she negotiated Partnership Agreement with the United States government to start ILEA in Botswana (One of the objectives of ILEA is to train the police not only in Botswana but in the Region to fight various forms of crime).
In addition she was instrumental in advocating and ensuring that Government appointed women to positions of authority in Government Boards.
As Minister of Trade she worked tirelessly to ensure that Botswana qualified for AGOA (Africa Growth Opportunity Act) whose objective is to increase trade between Botswana and the US. She further signed a Trade Agreement between Botswana and India. She headed the African Ministers to WTO (World Trade Organization) to the last successful Trade Talks in Doha in 2001. Ambassador Seretse was instrumental in establishing both BEDIA [Botswana Export Development and Investment Authority] and LEA [Local Enterprise Authority]. As Minister of Transport and Communications, The Road Cattle Chasing Project which saw road accidents related to animals reducing significantly, was fully implemented and supervised.
In these Ministerial Portfolios, she attended many Conferences, Seminars, Debates and Meetings.

She has been a long time member of the ruling party in Botswana (the Botswana Democratic Party).

She graduated from Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland in 1978.