Can Africa strike a balance between conservation and economic growth?
Africa's goal of achieving enhanced trade, economic growth and greater prosperity and living standards for all must not come at the expense of its wildlife and natural habitat.
Lisa Karanja is the Senior Director, Business Competitiveness at TradeMark East Africa, a special purpose vehicle supporting the process of East African integration, with offices in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda. She is also a UK Barrister and Kenyan Advocate, with over 20 years in law, human rights, governance and regional integration work in East Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States.
She has held positions in Commercial Litigation, Kaplan and Stratton Advocates; as the Orville Schell Fellow, Human Rights Watch, New York; Law and Policy Advisor in the Department of Governance and Ethics, Office of the President and, most recently, four years at Transparency International-Kenya as its Deputy Executive Director and Head of Programmes.
Lisa is also a board member in the Business Advocacy Fund that supports business member organisations to engage in private public dialogue and to advocate improvements in the business environment in Kenya for increased investment and job creation. She is a member of the National Advisory Council for the African Wildlife Foundation