Keith Jefferis

Dr Keith Jefferis is the Senior Policy Advisor at Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Government of Botswana. He was Deputy Governor of the Bank of Botswana (BoB) from November 1999 until March 2005, on appointment by the President of Botswana, H.E. Festus Mogae. Prior to this Dr Jefferis worked in the Research Department of the BoB; as a Senior Research Fellow at the Botswana Institute of Development Policy Analysis; and as an academic lecturing and researcher in economics at universities in Botswana and the United Kingdom. He has degrees in economics from the Universities of Bristol (B.Sc) and London (M.Sc), and the Open University in the UK (Ph.D), and started his career as a professional economist by winning a Fellowship of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London.

Dr Jefferis has undertaken a wide variety of research, analysis and consultancy work on economic policy issues. At the Bank of Botswana, he worked extensively on the formulation and analysis of macroeconomic policy issues, especially monetary, exchange rate and fiscal policies; development of the financial system, including competition and efficiency in the banking sector, regulatory issues, broadening access to financial institutions, and payments system development; and macroeconomic data compilation and dissemination. He has also worked on stock market development, trade policy and regional integration issues, industrial policy and SMME development, poverty analysis and poverty alleviation policies, and the economic aspects of HIV/AIDS, combining both academic rigour and policy relevance. Dr Jefferis has written extensively on economic issues in Botswana and the countries of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), and has played a key role in deepening the public understanding of economic issues in through teaching, writing and public speaking.

Dr Jefferis is a citizen of Botswana and is accredited to the Technical Assistance Experts Register of the IMF’s Monetary and Financial Systems Department.