Abdul Waheed Patel

Abdul Waheed Patel is the CEO and Founder of ETHICORE - an international pan African government and public affairs firm established 2009. A winner of the 2020 Political Influence Brand Award at the African Brand Summit, ETHICORE has pioneered ethical influence and integrity in public policy, regulatory and government relations advocacy, lobbying and stakeholder engagement and campaigns on the African continent for clients in the private, public and civil society sectors. Through his more than more than two decades expertise and experience in public policy, regulatory affairs, government relations, advocacy and lobbying across the public, private and political sectors in Africa, Abdul Waheed Patel has been recognised as a trailblazer and champion of ethically focused influence at the intersection and nexus of governance, markets and society. He is the President of the African Lobbying Union and the Chairperson of the South African Lobbying Association. He is a member of the the FIPRA International Network's Global Advisory Board. He has been a member of the South African Government delegation to the UNCommission on Sustainable Development and a member of the Economic Commission for Africa's Marrakech Task Force on Sustainable Consumption and Production.. In 2010-2011, he served on the Task Force led by the Special Representative of the United Nations Secretary-General, for the development of the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, convened by the UN Human Rights and the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights.