Speaker

Joseph Owolabi

Preparing for ESRS/CSRD Implementation and IFRS 18

Joseph Owolabi is CEO at Rubicola Consulting – a green finance advisory firm. He has  previously held senior management roles as Director at Deloitte Asia Pacific, Senior Manager at PwC Australia, and leader of EY West Africa’s Climate Change and Sustainability Services.

Rubicola is the first firm to be approved by the Climate Bond Initiative, an international investor-focused group with ambition to mobilise  USD100 trillion in global capital towards a net-zero planet, as Verifier for green bond issuances in Africa. Rubicola has offices in Australia, Africa and representative offices in Germany and Canada.

He has made significant contributions to the profession as a champion for the implementation of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) across Africa, Americas and Australia, and pioneer advisor for the global adoption of non-financial reporting (sustainability and integrated reporting).

Joseph pioneered sustainability reporting and assurance in Africa (outside of South Africa) and has been one of the global champions for green bond issuance, sustainability and climate risk disclosures. He assisted with the issuance of the first Sovereign Green Bond from to be issued in Africa. He has facilitated workshops on ESRS and developed e-learnings to support preparers with meeting the requirements of ESRS/CSRD.

In 2022 Joseph made history when he was elected as the global president and chairman of the board of ACCA – The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) with head office in London, U.K and offices in over 100 countries. He became the first African to be elected as president of ACCA and the youngest person to hold such office since inception of the organisation – 120 years ago. ACCA is the largest global accounting body in the world with around 800,000 current and future members. Before his election to ACCA Global Council in 2015, he was a member of ACCA’s International Assembly. In 2023, he was recognised as one of the top 100 Most Influential People of Africa Descent (MIPAD) immediately after the UN General Assembly in New York. He was also voted top 40 under 40s in Africa during the same year.

Joseph is a Doctoral researcher at the University of Newcastle in Australia. He holds a Master of Arts degree from the York St. John University and has attended executive programmes at The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania and Harvard Business School. He is a Certified Internal Auditor (CIA), Professional Member of the Institute of Internal Auditors Australia (PMIIA), and a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD).