A Course For Compliance and Governance | Interview with Isabelle Lessedjina Part 2

Following on from Part One of our interview with Isabelle, we discuss her upcoming training workshop in partnership with JFourth;  Foundations of Compliance and Governance for Fintechs and NBFIs.

This collaborative workshop with Aniz aims to equip decision-makers and compliance leads in Fintechs and Non-Bank Financial Institutions (NBFIs) with the knowledge to build sustainable and credible operations in Africa. Through the completion of these modules, participants will become more confident in their roles and better prepared to engage with regulators and investors.

The overall goal of the course is to equip financial professionals in Africa with the right understanding of compliance, governance to succeed.  To explain how the course approaches this goal, Isabelle took the time to five key questions.

Where did the concept for this course originate?

“The idea came from conversations with startup founders, VC, Board members , risk and compliance experts, and regulators who all recognized the same issue: there’s a critical gap in compliance talents and limited accessible Africa-relevant training on governance and compliance.”

From emerging markets to global hubs, compliance & governance professionals face recurring pain points:

 📌Challenge 1 - Compliance & governance are often siloed, making it hard to embed a true culture of accountability across the business. 

📌Challenge 2 - Rapid growth of business and financial crimes’ innovation outpace internal controls and regulation, exposing institutions to existential risks.

📌 Challenge 3 - Most training programs are either too expensive, too generalist, or built only for highly regulated and mature organizations.

More specifically, the past few years have seen rapid economic growth and financial changes in jurisdictions across Africa and around the globe. Financial professionals in emerging economies often face more complex regulatory changes. Fast-growing sectors like fintech, where pace often overtakes structure are especially affected by the issues addressed in this workshop.

2. In your experience across EMEA, have you identified regional differences in corporate governance?

“Absolutely. In ‘mature’ markets, governance tends to be more structured and entrenched in institutional framework. In Middle East and Africa, however, governance is often shaped by culture and context, and while this allows a better fit for purpose, it also creates risks when systems aren’t formalized or systematized. I’ve seen firsthand how adjusted formalized approaches to governance can strengthen resilience without stifling innovation.”

This course aims to help business overcome the difficulties posed by those differences by dressing the governance and compliance talent gap within the financial sector of Africa’s emerging markets.

3. What content can we expect to see from the workshop?

“This first workshop lays the foundation. It will cover the basics of governance and compliance, but through the lens of what fintechs and other non-bank financial institutions (NBFIs) face in practice. Participants can expect concrete case studies, region-specific insights, and tools they can apply immediately. The idea is to give foundational knowledge and build the cultural reflexes of governance and compliance.”

“Future sessions will go deeper into topics like risk culture and internal controls governance pitfalls. While also allowing a deeper dive into some of the subjects presented with case studies with concrete solutions and in-depth discussions.”

4. Who will benefit most from attending this webinar?

“Founders, compliance officers, advisory board members, auditors, and regulators or other stakeholders who work closely with fintechs and NBFIs will find value. It is particularly relevant for those in early-stage or scaling companies who want to embed governance early, but we’ve also had interest from ecosystem enablers and more established players.”

Building bridges between governance and innovation takes time but helps provide an edge in the long run.  This course focuses on how businesses can start quicken that process so they are better positioned to expand.

5. What sets this program apart from other training in or about Africa?

“Lived experience — each module is designed based on challenges we’ve regularly encountered in the field, from startup founders misjudging regulatory scope to boards lacking the right oversight. We focus on building the awareness, providing the foundations of the main issues we see on the ground.”

Other courses have failed to provide actionable solutions because they do not account for the realities of the situation in Africa. What makes this training valuable is the combination or broader expertise with first-hand experience in the region. 

Isabelle’s final statement highlights why a course like this is so important.  “If there’s one thing I want attendees to remember, it’s that investing in governance is not about slowing down — it’s about, building sustainable and strong, building to last.”

With those words in mind, stakeholders in Africa should consider how to build the compliance and governance capacity to create better businesses and stabler markets.

The solution might be the Governance & Compliance Training Series for Fintechs & NBFIs.

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