Tembo joined the Zambian civil service in 1985 as an economist in the National Commission for Development Planning. In 1990 she joined Meridien Biao Bank where she was in charge of operations for one of its largest branches. In 1995, Tembo returned to the public sector as a Senior Economist responsible for regional integration programmes in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. From 2000 until 2003, Tembo served as Deputy Team Leader on a
USAID RAPID project in
Gaborone,
Botswana, supporting member states of the
Southern African Development Community (SADC) in the implementation of the SADC Trade Protocol. In 2003 and 2004, Tembo served as a Trade and Investment Advisor on the USAID-funded Zambia Trade and Investment Enhancement Project (ZAMTIE) project in Lusaka, providing support to the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry and the private sector. In May 2004, the then President of the Republic of Zambia,
Levy Mwanawasa appointed Tembo as Zambia’s Chief Trade Negotiator and Director of Foreign Trade in the Ministry of Commerce, Trade and Industry. One of her key responsibilities during this period was to lead the Zambian technical team in its capacity as coordinator of the group of
Least Developed Countries (LDCs) during the
World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference of 2005. Among the agreements reached in Hong Kong was the decision to extend duty and quota-free market access to LDCs and the Aid-for-Trade agenda, an initiative that seeks to place a spotlight on the role of trade related capacity building in supporting growth and sustainable development with the aim of ensuring for poverty reduction. A key feature of this was the establishment of the
Enhanced Integrated Framework, a multi-donor initiative hosted by the WTO. Tembo was in 2008 appointed to lead the Enhanced Integrated Framework by then WTO Director-General
Pascal Lamy. During her tenure as executive director of the Enhanced Integrated Framework, from October 2008 to October 2013, Tembo spearheaded the establishment of the initiative (formerly the Integrated Framework), which sought to address the trade-related technical assistance needs and supply side constraints of the Least Developed Countries. Tembo oversaw the effort of making the Enhanced Integrated Framework operational in 2010. By 30 April 2012, the initiative was supported by a multi-donor trust fund with paid-up capital of $165 million. During this period Tembo led the resource mobilisation and outreach efforts and managed the implementation of wide-ranging projects in the LDCs. In June 2014, Tembo was appointed deputy executive director of the
International Trade Centre. During this period she led the operations of ITC, including oversight of project delivery, resource mobilisation and project and financial management. In partnership with former Executive Director
Arancha Gonzalez, she helped pilot the launch of a number of initiatives including the SheTrades initiative, the ITC’s first annual flagship publication on SME Competitiveness, ITC’s Innovation Lab, and programmes on youth and trade, assistance for implementation of the WTO
Trade Facilitation Agreement, and Investment Facilitation for Development. From January 2020 to June 2020 she was appointed as Acting Executive Director, responsible for overseeing all aspects of the operational and strategic focus of the organisation’s delivery of trade-related technical assistance to developing countries with a focus on achieving the
Sustainable Development Goals. Over 80% of the delivery is to priority countries in
sub-Saharan Africa,
Least developed countries (LDCs),
Landlocked developing countries (LLDCs), Small, vulnerable economies (SVEs),
Small Island Developing States, and fragile and post-conflict economies. She is currently serving as deputy executive director. == Other activities ==