Team Category: Board of Directors

Mr Jay Ramesh is Co-founder and non-executive  Chairperson of the Board of Directors of Botho University (BU) & Group Institutions. BU is a leading private university with campuses in Botswana, Lesotho, eSwatini and Namibia as well as a Blended and Distance Learning Campus.   Jay has also been a Managing Partner of Grant Thornton, an accounting firm currently ranked the third largest in Botswana. He became the Managing Partner at Grant Thornton in 2000 after having worked in all firm divisions where he played a lead role in forging an international affiliation for this locally established firm. Jay holds a degree in Bachelor of Commerce from the University of Madras, India in 1979, where he later qualified as a Chartered Accountant and acquired a wealth of experience in the accounting sphere. He is an alumnus of Said Business School, Oxford University where he completed a Senior Leadership Programme on Organisational Leadership and also a Fellow Chartered Accountant of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants.

It is this vast experience and qualifications that have afforded him the opportunity to sit in various Boards and committees across government and the private sector such as chair of the Government Audit Committee from July 2016 to June 2021, Non-Executive Director of Sechaba Brewery Holdings Limited since March 2021, Member of the Board of Governors of Grant Thornton International, and past chairman of Business Botswana committee for the Trade and Industry sector of the High-Level Consultative Council (HLCC), among many others. He played a key role in strengthening the presence of Grant Thornton in the African Region from a presence in 11 countries in 2009 to being established in 24 countries by 2018, where he was the bridge between Grant Thornton International and the Firms. Jay is also playing leadership roles in social organisations involved in charitable activities for the welfare of the local community

Mr Raja Ram is the Pro-Chancellor of Botho University. He is a Chartered Accountant and since 1980 he has been the Managing Partner and President of Grant Thornton, an accounting firm currently ranked the third largest in Botswana with a present staff complement of 148, including 99 Batswana. The firm was started under the name of Acumen in 1976 and became a Botswana member of Grant Thornton International in 1992. Ram acquired the practice in 1980 with nine clients in a single room rented office and no employees. Since then, he has actively championed the employment, training, and personal development of a substantial citizen workforce and spearheaded the organisation’s phenomenal growth. He has also been the General Manager and Director of Leo Enterprises, an Indian-based Pharmaceutical Distributor, since 1976 and was responsible for the development of this organisation from a value of Rs.1 million to Rs.8 million. It is currently the largest Pharmaceutical Logistics Company in Kerala, India.

Dr Sheela Raja Ram is the Vice-Chancellor and Managing Director of Botho University. Under her visionary leadership, the institution grew from a training institution to a full-fledged university in a short span of 16 years. She has been responsible for the development and implementation of two key strategic plans that have given Botho University an impeccable reputation in Botswana for quality education delivery. As the Vice-Chancellor, she is highly focused on quality student experiences through continual improvement in academic delivery. She is also highly keen on providing other supporting activities at Botho University aimed at producing an employable graduate. Sheela has been instrumental in the growth and development of the two large consulting organisations in Botswana, namely Acumen Enterprises (now officially a part of the Big 5 Consulting firm, Grant Thornton) and RPC Data. She has also provided business and IT consulting services to a large number of corporate clients, including the Government of Botswana. Sheela holds an MSc in Physics from the Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai, and a Doctor of Education (Higher Education), EdD, from the University of Liverpool, UK. 

Mr Ananth Ram is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Strategy at Botho University. He holds overall responsibility for drafting the University’s strategy plan, overseeing its implementation, ensuring alignment between resources and strategic goals, and monitoring and reviewing the strategy on a regular basis. He is a Director at the Enko Botho International Secondary School in Botswana and is the founding Chairperson of Angel Network Botswana – a network of business angels focused on investing in and supporting startups and entrepreneurs in Botswana. Ananth graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree double majoring in Integrated Sciences and Computer Information Systems from Northwestern University (USA) and has an MBA from INSEAD (France/Singapore). He has also completed the Senior Executive Program Africa from Harvard Business School (USA) and Gordon Institute of Business Science (South Africa). His career started as a software developer and includes a stint as a commodities broker but has primarily been in education with a focus on academic administration, quality assurance and strategic planning. Ananth is passionate about his family (nuclear, extended and his dog), education, youth/children, camping and cricket.

Dr. Priya Iyer is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, People and Impact, for Botho University. She oversees the Botho University Community Initiative, Corporate Training and Partnerships, Human Resources. Iyer is a Chartered Accountant by profession and was the first woman to be elected as the President of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA). She won the most votes ever polled by a Council member when she was elected and in her position as BICA President, she established good networks with other professional institutions around the world such as the International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the World Bank. She has a Bachelor’s in Commerce from the University of Calicut, Kerala India and is currently pursuing her doctoral studies in higher education, the research area being graduate employability.

Mr Aditya Raja Ram is the Pro-Vice-Chancellor Estates and Infrastructure for Botho University. Since joining the Botho team in 2007, he has been responsible for the rapid infrastructure growth of the institution. He has worked on various projects in the Maldives, South Africa, India, the USA and Botswana and has considerable experience in consulting and real estate management and development. Aditya has a Bachelor of Science (Hons) in International Hospitality Management from Ecole Hôtelière de Lausanne, Switzerland. He has been awarded the coveted EHL Spirit award for his contribution to the institution and its members. He also holds a Master of Science in Real Estate Development from Columbia University, New York, USA. His research interests are Student Housing Management as well as Campus Development and Construction Technology.

Kate Senye is a Non-Executive Member of the Botho University Board of Directors with more than 18 years post qualification experience working as a development economist and investment analyst. As the CEO of Southern Africa Media Development Fund (Samdef), a venture capital fund that focuses on financing and developing media projects in Southern and East Africa, Kate was exposed to working closely with regional and international development agencies at strategic and operational levels. One of her major roles had been the negotiation of further funding of the Samdef by development finance institutions as well as developing a sustainable model for the institution that would allow little or no reliance on governments and donor funding. As an economist working for the Botswana Government, she was actively involved in managing development and consultancy projects, mostly for international organizations such as the World Bank, USAID, WHO, SIDA, GTZ, UNICEF and UNDP. Seconded to the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Minerals, Energy and Water Affairs, she was actively involved in managing several key development projects. In April 2012 she moved on to pursue her own business interests. She is currently the Managing Director of The Workforce Group Botswana (TWG). TWG Botswana, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the business of staff outsourcing, recruitment and specialist staffing, training and consulting, financial services and employee health management, among others. TWG Botswana was set up in March 2018. Her main role is to roll out all the Workforce Holdings clusters in the Botswana market. As the managing director and reporting to the board of directors, she provides market insights and strategic advice, developing and implementing business plans to improve cost efficiency, maintaining positive and trust-based relations with business partners, shareholders and authorities as well as overseeing the company’s business operations and financial performance.

Mrs. Neo Bogatsu joined Botswana Insurance Fund Management (BIFM) in 2011 as Chief Finance Officer. She currently holds the position of Chief Executive officer. Prior to joining BIFM, she was with Barclays Bank of Botswana for more than 10years, where she worked in the finance and Business Analytics department, holding different positions from middle to senior management level. She started her career with Ernst and Young in 1996, where she trained and became a Chartered Accountant. She is an Executive MBA graduate of the University Of Chicago Booth School Of Business. Neo is a Fellow Member of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (FCCA) and the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants. She holds a B. Com (Accounting) Degree from the University of Botswana. In addition to her role as CEO of BIFM, she serves as a director in various boards of different industries from financial services, Property management and development, and education

Lesang holds an LLB from Birmingham City University. Director of RDC listed on the BSE ( Real Estate Development Company ). He is the Director of Phakalane Estates Group Companies, a major township and property development company in Botswana. Previously a Director at Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC) as well as Chairman of Afinitas delisted from the BSE venture board. Chaired and a
member of several sub committees of boards from audit, renumerations, investment and external tender committees.

Mrs. Dorcas Kgosietsile is a Non-Executive Member of the Botho University Board of Directors. She has extensive experience gained over 16 years with Botswana Development Corporation Ltd. (BDC) in overall business administration, investment analysis and economic issues through financial/asset management in various sectors and over a wide range of projects and industries. She was Botswana’s first resident Ambassador to India, but before joining the Diplomatic Corp, she was managing and leading consultant of Business Clinic (Pty) Ltd. Alongside consultancy, she was a Director of Botswana Insurance Holdings Ltd (Botswana Insurance Fund Management Limited (BIFM), BLIL and First National Bank of Botswana Boards. On these Boards, she served in functional committees such as Audit, credit/risk and investment/asset management. She was also on the Public Procurement and Asset Disposal Board (PPADB) and the National Development Bank (NDB). She directed several smaller firms in formations, restructures and investment options as well as resources management. Kgosietsile is currently Director of the six Botswana incorporated subsidiaries of FSG Limited; Non-Executive Director of Choppies Ltd group; and Non-Executive Independent Director of First National Bank Botswana (FNBB), all listed on the Botswana Stock Exchange.