About

‘A regional legal role, covering many countries is always challenging, especially in its beginning, not only because of the different context that the countries we operate have, but because of the need to develop capabilities to react to circumstances and actions of third party, clients and other key players to the business that I was not typically familiar with’, says Nielsen’s chief legal counsel for the Middle East and Africa Wael Ibrahim when discussing the trials and tribulations of a multi-jurisdictional role. ‘Dealing with a constant flux in laws and requirements from more than 21 countries in my region has resulted in adopting new practices and operating in an innovative fashion in order to protect my organisation’s interests and its clients. This included the creation of a legal database aimed at increasing knowledge-sharing within the company’s different teams and the overall ability of the rest of the company to understand the legal impact of business decisions’. Nevertheless, he relishes the challenge and considers his current position with Nielsen to be a particular career highlight. In particular, his appointment as integrity leader for Africa and the Middle East gave him ‘a deeper understanding of the business and the people behind the business, and has allowed [him] to embrace new moral beliefs and business norms’. He has a number of major projects under his belt as well: ‘I was requested to develop new corporate structures in Saudi Arabia and Qatar which required months of negotiating shareholders agreements with local businessmen and the dissolution of the older corporate set-ups. Also, I participated in all legal aspects related to achieving the company’s compliance with the South African Broad-Based Black Employment Equity Act which is designed to redress the situation of previously disadvantaged South Africans’.