Africa Investments 

Women in Compliance in Africa: Navigating Challenges & Opportunities in the era of COVID-19

What: Virtual workshop of the Women in Ethics and Compliance in Africa network
Who: African Development Bank, Integrity and Anti-Corruption Department
When: 22 October 2020, from 12.00 to 14.00 GMT
Where: Virtual

The African Development Bank will host the inaugural virtual workshop of the Women in Ethics and Compliance in Africa network (WECA), on Thursday, 22 October 2020.

The webinar, themedWomen in Compliance in Africa: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities in the era of COVID-19, will formally introduce the WECA network to participants and stakeholders and bring together experienced women in ethics and compliance, including officials and chief executive officers, who are working to curb unethical practices and non-compliance in business and the public sector.

WECA is an informal network of seasoned women professionals in the field of ethics and compliance in business in Africa, set up by the African Development Bank and Coalition for Ethical Operations to promote integrity in business across the continent.

Objectives of the Workshop

  • Introduction and objectives of the WECA network.
  • Discourse on the challenges and opportunities in ethics and compliance, emerging from the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • Membership drive to attract more women professionals and other interested persons into the network.


Speakers and panelists:

Olajobi Makinwa, Chief of Intergovernmental Relations and Africa, UN Global Compact

Lisa Miller, Integrity Compliance Officer, Integrity Vice Presidency, World Bank Group

Alan Bacarese, Director, Integrity & Anti-Corruption, African Development Bank

Vanessa Moungar, Director for Gender, Women and Civil Society, African Development Bank

Paula Santos Da Costa, Head, Ethics Office, African Development Bank

Olajobi Makinwa

Ms. Olajobi Makinwa is the Chief of Intergovernmental Relations and Africa for the United Nations Global Compact. In this role, she leads high-level interactions between Governments, the private sector and civil society, in order to strengthen multistakeholder cooperation and partnerships for the SDGs and the UNGC 10 Principles. During the 74th Session of the United Nations General Assembly, she also served as a Senior Advisor to the President of the UN General Assembly on Stakeholder Engagement.

Prior to her current role, Ms. Makinwa served as the Chief of Transparency & Anti-Corruption at the UN Global Compact, where she successfully led the development of numerous projects on transparency and anti-corruption, notably the Siemens Initiative Project on Collective Action in the fight against corruption.

Lisa K. Miller

Integrity Compliance Officer, World Bank Group

Lisa Miller is the World Bank Group Integrity Compliance Officer and heads the Integrity Compliance Unit in the World Bank Group’s Integrity Vice Presidency. She was a Senior Counsel in the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency. Before joining the World Bank, she was in private legal practice. Lisa received an LL.M. in International and Comparative Law, with distinction from Georgetown University Law Center, a J.D. from George Washington University Law School, and a B.S. in International Politics and Certificate in German Studies from Georgetown University’s School of Foreign Service.

Alan BACARESE

Director for Integrity and Anti-Corruption, African Development Bank

Alan BACARESE is the Director for Integrity and Anti-Corruption in the African Development Bank. Alan specialises in cases involving corruption (domestic and trans-national), money laundering, mutual legal assistance and fraud, with a wealth of experience as a former UK Senior Crown Prosecutor and the first Head of Legal and Case Consultancy at the International Centre for Asset Recovery, Basel, Switzerland.

Alan has authored many books and papers and is a co-author of the leading UK Legal textbook Corruption and Misuse of Public Office (Oxford University Press – Third Ed. published October 2017) and The Counter Fraud Practitioners Book (Gower Publishing).

Vanessa Moungar

Director, Gender, Women and Civil Society, African Development Bank

Since 2017, she has led the Gender, Women and Civil Society Department at the African Development Bank. She also sits on French President Emmanuel Macron’s Presidential Council for Africa. Before then, she served in various positions at the World Economic Forum, Terrafina and AV Consulting.  

Paula Santos Da Costa

Head of Unit, Ethics Office, African Development Bank

Paula Santos Da Costa is the Head of Unit, Ethics Office, of the African Development Bank. She has 20 years of professional experience in Ethics and Compliance. Paula holds MBA degrees in fiscal law from the Lisbon Institute of Economics and Management (ISTEC) and Private Law from the Jean Moulin University in Lyon, France. She also obtained a Master’s degree in private law from Jean Monnet University in Saint-Etienne, France.

Paula is a member of the Lisbon Bar Association and the Ethics and Compliance Initiative (ECI)and the Ethics Network of Multilateral Organizations (ENMO). She is a certified professional in ethics and compliance (delivered by the Ethics and Compliance Initiative) and a certified anti-money laundering expert (issued by the Central Bank of France).

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