Aparna Vijay

Aparna is the Head of Corporate Services and Partner with more than 25 years of experience in assurance and advisory services. She provides expert consultancy in company law and related regulatory matters, as well as governance and sustainability advisory. Aparna specializes in delivering comprehensive corporate, governance, and sustainability services to privately held organizations and corporate clients, supporting compliance, strategic oversight, and long-term value creation.

Experience

She began her professional career with A.F. Ferguson & Co. (now Deloitte & Touche) in India, one of the world’s leading accounting firms. In 2003, she joined Grant Thornton Botswana, initially working within the Assurance practice. Over time, her strong interest in compliance, company law, governance, and corporate secretarial services guided her transition into the firm’s Corporate Services practice, where she has since built deep expertise in advisory and regulatory services.  

Sector experience

Aparna provides strategic advisory and corporate services to clients establishing and operating businesses in Botswana. Her expertise includes the incorporation of companies in accordance with Botswana’s Companies Act, as well as end-to-end support on post-incorporation formalities, statutory filings, and liaison with relevant regulatory authorities. 

She is a recognized expert on the Companies Act and its amendments, advising on complex corporate transactions including restructurings, amalgamations, share capital reductions, and other statutory corporate actions, with a holistic assessment of legal, regulatory, and governance implications. She is trusted by clients for her pragmatic, risk-aware approach, ensuring solutions are both technically sound and aligned with broader business objectives. She provides board-level advisory support on governance and statutory compliance, working closely with directors and senior management to plan and facilitate board and shareholder meetings, advise on governance frameworks and decision-making processes, and ensure the integrity of board documentation and statutory records. She oversees the preparation of high-quality board packs, acts as trusted adviser and minute secretary, convenes general meetings, and ensures robust, end-to-end compliance with the Companies Act across her client portfolio. In addition, she advises and assists clients with regulatory and operational requirements, including the procurement of trade and industry-specific licences, as well as work and residence permits, enabling businesses to operate legally and efficiently across a wide range of industries. Aparna maintains a current and in-depth understanding of evolving corporate governance standards, including the King Reports (King III, IV and V), enabling her to provide practical, forward-looking advice to boards and senior leadership.

She has played a key role in designing and delivering governance and compliance training for clients, covering essential provisions of the Companies Act, the King Codes, and the core principles of corporate governance and sustainability, equipping boards and management with the knowledge required to meet both regulatory and stakeholder expectations.

Aparna has led the development and implementation of tailored corporate governance frameworks, including board and committee charters, terms of reference, governance manuals, policies, constitutions, and related documentation. These frameworks are designed to be practical, scalable, and easily embedded, fostering clear accountability, transparency, and effective relationships between the Board, its committees, management, and key stakeholders.

Recognising the increasing demands placed on boards to deliver effective strategic oversight, Aparna supports boards through the design and execution of board evaluation tools, as well as the performance of board and committee assessments and gap analyses. These engagements are aimed at aligning boards with leading governance best practices and strengthening overall board effectiveness.

She brings broad, multidisciplinary experience across accounting, audit, investigations, and legal matters, and is a key contributor to the growth and development of the Corporate Services division, leveraging her expertise to build and deepen long-term client relationships.

Professional qualifications and memberships

Aparna is a qualified Chartered Accountant from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Bangalore University, India. Aparna is a fellow member of the Botswana Institute of Chartered Accountants (BICA) and a Fellow member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India.

Aparna has attended the Advanced Leadership Program and the Exceptional Coach Program (recognised by European Mentoring and Coaching Council (EMCC) facilitated by Grant Thornton International., which is recognised as one of the world’s leading leadership development coaching programs. 

She acts as a coach and contributes to the development of Grant Thornton Botswana’s professionals, supporting them in enhancing technical competence, efficiency, and compliance with current regulatory and professional standards.

Technological Proficiency

Aparna is proficient in using Microsoft Office applications to bring value to different assignments. She is particularly proficient in using Microsoft Word and Excel to generate quality and informative reports for clients across different industries. Furthermore, she is well versed with using the CIPA online platform for company secretarial roles including but not limited to, registration, filing annual returns, submission of financial statements, amalgamation, and deregistration.

Community involvement

Aparna has been a member of the Private Business Growth Awards internal judges panel since 2017 to 2019. She presented in association with Business Botswana and Botswana Investment and Trade Centre (BITC), this initiative is Grant Thornton’s biggest Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activity that encourages and honours the development of growing private businesses in the country, and led to a partnership with USAID Trade Hub to present the “Botswana Exporter of the Year” awards

Aparna participates in Grant Thornton’s CSR initiatives such as recently supporting Government’s Digital Transformation Strategy within the education sector by sponsoring a state-of-the art imported tech panel – a first for public schools in Botswana. Over the years, Grant Thornton has supported various local communities paying special attention to the upliftment of education in Botswana.

In her personal capacity, Aparna was actively involved with the Free eye clinic run by an organisation in Gaborone, and was an integral member of the clinic volunteer committee for over 3 years. During her time at the clinic, she assisted in running eye camps, each of which assisted over 150 school children who had no access to eye clinics and spectacles until the year 2018.

Aparna has been a regular blood donor and has donated blood over 10 times.

Presentations and publications

Aparna is a regular speaker and thought leader at a range of professional forums, including engagements hosted by the Institute of Internal Auditors, Grant Thornton–led sessions, and bespoke client presentations.

In 2023, she delivered a specialist presentation on governance frameworks for privately owned Public Interest Entities (PIEs), with a focus on compliance with King III and King IV principles, providing practical insights for boards and senior management on applying governance standards in a private ownership context.

 Aparna delivered a presentation at the 2023 Governance Summit, themed “Sustainability – Your License to a Better Tomorrow”. She played a key role in the planning and execution of the 2025 Governance and Sustainability Summit, hosted by Grant Thornton, including developing the agenda and curating topics. At the 2025 Summit, she also presented on corporate governance matters, sharing her expertise with boards and senior executives.

Aparna is an accomplished corporate governance and sustainability professional with a strong focus on leadership, communication, and strategic advisory. She is an active member of Grant Thornton’s Corporate Toastmasters Club, which has enhanced her executive communication and leadership skills.

Aparna is a recognized expert in the Companies Act, advising on complex corporate transactions such as restructurings, amalgamations, and share capital reductions. She also contributes thought leadership by helping clients anticipate and address emerging business challenges, through publications such as International Business Research (IBR), local alerts, and insights on legislative developments, including the Companies Amendment Bill (2024). In addition, Aparna has contributed insightful articles on corporate governance, the Companies Act, its amendments, and other regulatory matters for numerous Grant Thornton Botswana publications, reinforcing her position as a thought leader in governance and compliance.

Passionate about diversity and women’s leadership, Aparna has actively led and mentored women-centric teams and served as Grant Thornton Botswana’s representative for the 2021 Women in Business IBR, an annual report by Grant Thornton International highlighting the role of women in business globally.

Languages spoken

English, Hindi, Tamil.