Chileshe Kapwepwe

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Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe is a Zambian accountant and business leader. Since July 18, 2018, she has been Secretary General of COMESA, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, and she is the first woman to hold the post. Before COMESA, she chaired the Zambia Revenue Authority. She has a twin sister, Mulenga Kapwepwe, who is an author and co-founder of the Zambian Women’s History Museum.

She earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from the University of Zambia and an MBA from the University of Bath. She is a Fellow of ACCA and of the Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants. Her career spans governance, public policy, and financial management, with roles such as Executive Director for IMF’s Africa Group One Constituency (based in Washington, DC) and Deputy Minister of Finance and National Planning in Zambia. She has also led the Zambia National Airports Corporation and worked as contracts manager for SGS in Geneva. Kapwepwe has served on boards including the Bank of Zambia, BP Zambia, and the Zambia Privatization Trust Fund, and she chairs ZEP-RE (PTA Reinsurance Company).