experts
Kholofelo Kugler
Kholofelo Kugler
Kholofelo Kugler
Nonresident Scholar, Africa Program
Kholofelo Kugler

about

Kholofelo Kugler is a nonresident scholar with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace’s Africa Program. She is an experienced international trade lawyer and specialist on African trade issues. Currently, she serves as head of trade law at Besso where she spearheads the company's work to automate trade law and helps companies adapt to rapidly shifting trade policies. Previously, she served as counsel at the Advisory Centre on WTO Law in Geneva, Switzerland, where she litigates and provides legal advice and training on WTO law.

Kholofelo is a member of the Task Force on the Mandatory Review of the AfCFTA and the AfCFTA Digital Trade Task Force. She is also on the panelist rosters for the EU-SADC Economic Partnership Agreement, the SACU-MERCOSUR FTA, and the EU’s list of chairpersons for FTA disputes.

Additionally, Kholofelo lectures trade law, digital trade law, and African regional integration at academic and training institutions in Africa, the Caribbean, Europe, and the United States. Previously, she was a PhD Fellow in the project Trade Law 4.0 at the University of Lucerne, Switzerland, researching digital economy and AI regulation issues in trade law.

featured work
WTO building
article
Africa and the Great Power Competition at the World Trade Organization

The WTO has not been impervious to the frictions among the organization’s largest economies—the United States, the European Union, and China—which are also Africa’s largest bilateral trade partners.