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Supporting the development and implementation of corporate governance codes of best practices in the Middle East and North Africa

In recent years many countries have adopted corporate governance codes of best practice to restore and promote investor confidence; foster reform efforts; and provide companies with a benchmark for their governance policies. Following this trend, countries from the MENA region are now engaging in developing their own corporate governance codes. To assist and accelerate this process, the GCGF and IFC PEP MENA are now joining efforts to provide carefully selected participants from the region with a series of three technical assistance workshops targeted at developing, drafting, implementing and reviewing corporate governance codes according to internationally recognized best practices.


  • The first workshop was held in Cairo, Egypt on March 14-15, 2006. Attended by regional participants from 7 countries, it mainly focused on the rationale and process of developing corporate governance codes. Key note speaker: Mervyn E. King. The main issues discussed included (i) why codes are useful; (ii) the objectives of a code; (iii) initiating and leading the process; (iv) setting-up an action plan; and (v) managing difficulties.

      Workshop in Progress
      - Cairo Workshop
      Workshop Exercise
    Click here to access the agenda and presentations of the first workshop
    Click here to access the Global Corporate Governance Forum Toolkit 2: Developing Corporate Governance Codes of Best Practice
    • The second workshop was held in the Amman, Jordan on December 12-13, 2006. The second workshop "Content of Codes and Consultation Mechanism" was co-hosted by the Jordan Securities Commission and moderated by Chris Pierce, Global Governance Services and Marie-Laurence Guy, Global Corporate Governance Forum. The workshop was a great success. Participants from over 10 countries of the region shared their experience and benefited from hands on experience and case studies to help the crafting of codes in their respective countries.
      Click here to access the agenda and presentations of the second workshop.
      • The third workshop was held in Casablanca, Morocco on June 7-8, 2007. It focused on implementing, monitoring and reviewing codes. Key note speaker: Christian Strenger. More specifically the workshop discussed: (i) launching and disseminating the code; (ii) monitoring the implementation of the code; (iii) measuring the impact of the code; and (iv) reviewing the code. Click here to find some of the presentations:

        Lessons Learned from: Egypt, Pakistan, the UK, and the UAE

        Corporate Governance and Media

        Comply or Explain Mechanism for Corporate Governance Code

        Implementation of Corporate Governance Code

        Monitoring and Measuring the Impact of Corporate Governance Code


        For more information on these workshops, please contact Marie-Laurence Guy at Mguy@ifc.org.
          Draft Code Peer reviews

          Beyond this series of technical assistance workshops, developing countries can request to have their draft codes reviewed by a team of regional and international experts from the IFC - GCGF Code Peer Review Group. Comments on draft codes have already been provided to a number to a number of countries including UAE, Jamaica, Jordan and Lebanon.