Ms Motselisi Matsela is an Economic Advisor, Economic Policy and Small States in the Economic, Youth, Social and Sustainable Development Directorate at the Commonwealth Secretariat. She manages the resilience building programme of small states which includes developing targeted projects to address the vulnerabilities of these countries and advocate for their recognition in global platforms. Among the initiatives, she is currently leading SDG Data Project aimed at supporting small and vulnerable member countries to implement SDGs by addressing their data challenges and gaps.
Before joining the Secretariat, she served as an Economist at the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) Secretariat. She coordinated the development and implementation of the Revenue Management Programme, tasked to oversee the collection of customs and excise duties and ensured equitable sharing of the pooled duties, which serve as one of the main revenue sources to some member countries of the Customs Union. She also served at the Lesotho Revenue Authority as a Director, Performance Analysis Unit and led research and revenue analysis which included advising on evidence-based strategies to expand tax base and compliance. She served at the Lesotho Ministry of Finance as Senior Policy Analyst. Motselisi hold Masters Degree in Economics from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa.