Participants 2021

Noureddine Bensouda

General Treasurer of the Kingdom, Morocco

Mr. Noureddine Bensouda is currently the General Treasurer of the kingdom of Morocco since April 2010. Prior to joining the General Treasury of kingdom, Mr. Noureddine Bensouda worked for twelve years as Director General at the General Tax Administration. Since 1993 he has been working as Deputy Director in charge of Central Control and Data Matching at the General Tax Administration and similarly he worked as professor at the National Administration School in Morocco ENA, from 1993 to 1998.

He started his career as The Chief Research Officer at the Cabinet of the Minister of Finance (1986); then he was named the head of the Cabinet of the Moroccan Minister of Economy and Finance (1991)

Noureddine Bensouda was appointed as The Chairman of United Nations Committee of Experts on International Cooperation in Tax Matters (2005 to 2009), and as such, a member of the Permanent Scientific Committee of the International Fiscal Association (IFA).

Mr. Noureddine Bensouda holds his PhD in public law from Mohammed V University, Rabat in 2005 as well as a PhD in Public Law from the University of Paris I, Pantheon Sorbonne in 2001. He got his Master in Public Law and a Diploma in Comparative Law in 1993.

Gil S. Beltran

Undersecretary, Department of Finance, Philippines

Undersecretary GIL S. BELTRAN is the Department of Finance’s Chief Economist. He works on a variety of areas including fiscal policy, human resource and operations management, economic policy and research, and financial inclusion policies and strategies.

He also served as an Alternate Executive Director and advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank and Chairman of the ASEAN Single Window Steering Committee (ASWSC).

Pablo de Ramón-Laca

Director General – Treasury and Financial Policy, General Secretariat of the Treasury and International Finance (Spanish Treasury), Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, Spain

Pablo was appointed Director General of the Treasury and Financial Policy in February 2020. His work involves, among other tasks, Spain’s financial sector regulation; devising and executing the Kingdom of Spain’s funding programme; the promotion of the Spanish debt in Spain and in roadshows abroad; the coordination of the capital markets presence of the different public-sector issuers; the supervision of the Treasury’s cash position; and the inspection and control of capital movements for the purposes of the fight against money laundering and terrorism finance. He is also Chairman of the EFC’s Subcommittee on European Sovereign Debt Management (ESDM) since August 2019, as well as a member of several committees related with his different policy areas.

Before his promotion to Director General, Pablo was Head of Funding and Debt Management at the Spanish Treasury since November 2013, a team he joined in September 2008. Before joining the Spanish Treasury, he worked as an economist in the Bank of England’s Financial Crisis Management Department. Pablo is a member of the High Corps of State Economists and Trade Experts, and he holds a BA (Hons) degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from the University of Oxford, and an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science.

Peter Lim

Director – Fiscal Policy, Ministry of Finance, Singapore

Mr Peter Lim is currently the Director of Fiscal Policy at the Ministry of Finance. Prior to that, he served as Special Assistant to the Deputy Prime Minister and Coordinating Minister for Economic and Social Policies. He was also a Deputy Director at the National Population and Talent Division and a Manager in the Singapore YOG Organising Committee.

Mr Peter Lim has a Double degree in Economics and Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor, followed by a Masters in Biomedical Engineering from John Hopkins University and a Masters of Laws from the University of London. He is a Sloan Fellow from the Stanford Graduate School of Business and is a CFA Charterholder.

Leena Mörttinen

Permanent Under-Secretary, International and Financial Markets Affairs, Finland

Leena is the Permanent Under-Secretary, International and Financial Markets Affairs of the Finnish Government, former Director General (Financial Markets Department) at the Ministry of Finance. She is also the Vice Chairman of the Board at the FIN-FSA.
Doctoral degree in Economics from the University of Helsinki.

Previously worked at,
the European Central Bank (Senior Economist),
the Bank of Finland (Advisor),
the Nordea Bank (Chief Economist (Finland) and Director for European Affairs),
the Confederation of Finnish Industries (Director, Competitiveness and growth) and
the Finnish Family Firms Association (Executive Director).

Markus Sovala

Director General, Statistics Finland, Finland

Dr. Markus Sovala has been appointed Director General of Statistics Finland for a five-year term starting from 1 March 2021. Before joining Statistics Finland Dr Sovala acted as Economic Policy Coordinator at the Ministry of Finance, a role which he took up in September 2019 and is involved in coordinating economic policy along with matters related to the budgetary stability control instruments. He was actively involved in monitoring the sustainability of public finances, fight against COVID19 epidemic and Government ownership policy planning.

Previously Dr Sovala was Leader of Change at Uusimaa Regional Council and before that held a number of senior roles in the Ministry of Finance including as Head of Economics Department and Deputy Budget Director, and a 2-year role as a Senior Advisor to the Executive Director at the World Bank.

Christine Walker

Assistant Comptroller General – Financial Management Transformation, Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat, Canada

Christine Walker is the Assistant Comptroller General of the Financial Management Transformation (FMT) Sector within the Office of the Comptroller General. As Assistant Comptroller General, Christine provides executive leadership in the development of the Financial Management Transformation roadmap which will define the future of the financial management landscape in the Government of Canada.

Christine has over 25 years of experience in the public service managing finance, IT, real property, security, procurement and human resources and has led many organization-wide corporate transformation projects. Her previous experience includes Assistant Deputy Minister for the Corporate Management Branch and Chief Financial Officer at Agriculture and Agri-food Canada as well as tenures in similar roles at Canada Border Services Agency, Treasury Board Secretariat, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions. Prior to joining government, she worked in the private sector both in Canada and France.

Christine is a graduate of the University of Western Ontario and a Chartered Professional Accountant.

Christian Dahlhaus

Head of Division, German Recovery and Resilience Plan/ Task Force Covid-19, Federal Ministry of Finance, Germany

Christian is heading the division coordinating the implementation of the German Recovery and Resilience Plan in response to the EU’s Recovery and Resilience Facility as part of the NextGenerationEU programme. He is also heading the Ministry’s task force coordinating emergency support measures in response to the Covid-19 crisis, in particular the implementation of the crisis support programmes for German individual businesses and enterprises.

He previously headed the financial policy and fiscal affairs department at the German Embassy in Paris. At the German Federal Ministry of Finance he has been an adviser to the State Secretary for European and International Affairs and held several positions in the Fiscal Policy and European Departments. During the global financial crisis he was a senior adviser to the Executive Director for Germany at the International Monetary Fund (IMF). He started his career as an adviser and project manager in the Directorate General for External Political Affairs at the European Commission in Brussels.

He obtained a B.A. (hons) in Economics with Development Studies and an M.A. in International Economics from the University of Sussex, UK.

Wenshan YEO

Director – Economic Programmes, Ministry of Finance, Singapore

Ms Wenshan Yeo is the Director of Economic Programmes at Singapore’s Ministry of Finance. Prior to assuming this role in 2016, she served as Deputy Director of Land Policy in the Ministry of Law. She has also served in the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Ministry of Health within the Singapore public service.

She holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BA in Ethics, Politics, and Economics from Yale University.

João Boa Francisco Quipipa

Economist and Government Advisor, Angola

João Boa F. Quipipa, born on March 21, 1975, has been the Executive Director (CFO) of the Angolan telecommunications operator UNITEL, S.A.

Since August 2020, he has been the Chairman of the Board of Directors (PCA) of USPM – Unitel Serviços de Pagamentos Móveis (SU), SA, a non-bank financial institution (100% owned by UNITEL, SA) which since 23 August 2021 made mobile money available to the Angolan market.
He is also, under a suspended contract (for the exercise of functions in the private sector), a Public Servant for 25 years, Career Adviser to the Staff of the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Angola.
Until December 2017, he was the President of the Support Fund for Agrarian Development (FADA), a Non-Banking Financial Institution, established in December 2016, after a restructuring process.

He was the Coordinator of the FADA Restructuring and Management Committee, November 2013-December 2016.
He performed the role of Secretary of State for the Treasury, April-September 2016.
He held the position of Director of the Office of Studies and International Relations (GERI) of the Ministry of Finance, May 2013-March 2016.
He was the Chairman of the Supervisory Board of the Sovereign Fund of Angola (FSDEA), September 2014-February 2018.
He was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sonangol-E.P., December 2013-September 2014.
Previously, he was a member of the SADC Review Team for Malawi and Lesotho under the SADC Macroeconomic Convergence Peer Review Mechanism (MEC), November 2014-March 2015.
He was also the Coordinator of the Implementation of a Loan Agreement with the African Development Bank (AfDB) related to the State Financial Management Support Project (PAGEF), 2014-2018.

Previous roles included:
• Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Institute of Public Sector Companies (ISEP);
• Provincial Delegate of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Province of Bengo;
• President of the Institute of Public Sector Companies (ISEP);
• Acting Secretary General of the Ministry of Economy;
• Director of National Studies and Market Analysis, State Secretariat for Public Sector Companies; and
• Director of Planning and Studies at the Angola Development Bank (BDA);
• Technician at the Support Center for the Implementation of the Capital Market and Stock Exchange in Angola;
• Senior Technician at the National Budget Directorate.

Until 2007 he taught Microeconomics at the Faculdade de Economia of the Universidade Lusíada de Angola and at the Núcleo de Economia do Huambo of the Faculdade de Economia of the Universidade Agostinho Neto. He also taught the Investment Analysis Course at the Lusíada de Angola and Agostinho Neto Universities.

Elaine Boyd

Associate Director of Audit Quality and Appointments, Audit Scotland, Scotland

Elaine Boyd is the Associate Director of Audit Quality and Appointments at Audit Scotland and has worked in this role for 5 years developing and delivering external audit quality arrangements. She provides assurance to the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission on the quality of public sector audit in Scotland across all audit work and providers. Elaine is responsible for the appointment, selection and contract management of public sector auditors in public bodies in Scotland. Prior to that she led audits in the public sector including health, local and central government bodies. She has over 20 years of experience in public sector audit.

Previously Elaine worked in the National Health Service in financial and management accounting roles and also internal audit. Prior to joining the public sector, she worked in private practice.

Throughout her working life Elaine has been a charity trustee and was listed as one of the 100 most influential disabled people in the UK in 2020.

Elaine is an active ACCA member and is the Depute Chair of the ACCA Scotland Committee.

Maggie McGhee

Executive Director – Governance, ACCA

Maggie McGhee is the Executive Director, Strategy and Governance at ACCA. Maggie leads our development of strategy and ACCA’s corporate governance arrangements and the governance of ACCA members and students.

Our integrated thinking and integrated reporting reinforces that being a force for public good is at the heart of what we do. ACCA’s corporate governance arrangements and the governance of ACCA members and students are fundamental in ensuring we actively support ethics and integrity in the profession.

With a background in audit and technical accounting, Maggie was previously the Director of Professional Insights at ACCA, where she led a team of technical and policy experts to support ACCA’s global thought leadership agenda.

Before joining ACCA, Maggie worked for PwC in the advanced regulatory and compliance analytics area applying specialist analytics tool to clients in the banking and capital markets sector.

A chartered accountant with a degree in law, Maggie trained with National Audit Office UK where she was the Director General of Audit. With over 18 years’ experience of auditing central government bodies, Maggie has engaged extensively across the audit and accounting profession, both within the UK and internationally, to influence sector developments. As part of this work, Maggie has been a member of a number of working groups and committees including the Accountancy Europe’s Public Sector Working Group, the EU European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) Working Group; HM Treasury’s Financial Reporting Advisory Board in the UK; and the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) Audit and Assurance Council.

Alex Metcalfe

Global Head of Public Sector, ACCA

Alex Metcalfe is the global head of public sector at ACCA. He leads ACCA’s global public sector approach and oversees its public sector research and thought leadership. Alex represents ACCA with key contacts in the public sector, including policymakers within government and international organisations, to share good practices and insights in public financial management and to work together in the public interest.

Prior to ACCA, he has worked across central, provincial and local government in the UK and Canadian civil service, including as a senior economist – specialising in tax policy – at the Ontario Ministry of Finance. He has published material across a breadth of public sector topics, including: infrastructure finance, employment law, fiscal policy, immigration and skills, and adult social care.

Alex is a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), board member of the Confederation of Asian and Pacific Accountants’ (CAPA) public sector committee, and on the editorial board for the academic book series Public Service Accounting and Accountability.

He studied at Oxford, Cambridge and Queen’s universities.

Nicola Villa

Executive Vice President, Strategic Growth, Mastercard

Nicola is a Mastercard senior executive focused at the intersection between Digital Ecosystems, Inclusive Economic Growth and Public Services. A corporate entrepreneur at heart, Nicola brings together Foresight, Innovation, Strategy & Execution. Nicola runs Mastercard’s Global Center of Excellence for Government Engagement.

Prior to that, Nicola worked as Vice President and Executive Partner at IBM’s Global Business Services unit. In his role, Nicola collaborated with leading government agencies to develop Digital Platform programs. Strongly focused on urban innovation, he co-developed with leading clients innovative programs and solutions in the Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and Big Data spaces. He also led the Internet of Things business in Europe, across all industries.

Prior to joining IBM, Nicola worked for Cisco Systems for almost 20 years where he led e-Commerce programs in the 90’s, he incubated the global digital consulting unit, he set up Cisco’s first steps in the Smart Cities market and helped created a 1.2B$ business in that space. Nicola also worked as member of Cisco China’s Board for as well as led the company’s Data & Analytics services group at global level. In his final role at Cisco he partnered with the Chairman & CEO to develop multi-year digital partnership programs with the French, UK, German and Italian Prime Ministers.

Nicola is an Executive Member of the Board at the World Economic Forum’s Future of Urbanization initiative, a cofounder with the City of Barcelona of The City Protocol Society and of Metropolis’ “Partnership for Urban Innovation” commission. He is also a Member of the Board of Advisors at CIMCON Lighting.

Nicola holds an Industrial Economics degree from Universita’ Cattolica del Sacro Cuore in Milan, Italy, as well as BA from Brighton University in the UK (Erasmus program).

Jennifer Duncan

Vice-President Government Innovation, Mastercard

Jennifer has spent most of her career in government affairs and communications. In 2020, she was named as the industry’s Emerging Female Leader and was also recognised as a Policymaker & Regulatory Expert – making the Women in global FinTech Powerlist. In her current role, she focuses on collaborating to address societal problems facing governments, the wider public sector and the citizens they serve. While based in London, she leads the company’s global external innovation and outreach programme for Government.

Jennifer is a frequent commentator on government and societal issues and has been a member of multiple industry/government working groups tackling a broad range of issues. She is a passionate advocate for digital financial inclusion.

Dr. Shefiu Abiodun Muritala

Accountant General – Lagos State, Nigeria

Biography to be updated shortly

Haji Ibsa Gendo

Director General, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, Ethiopia

Biography to be updated shortly