The World Bank’s legal department, led by general counsel, Sandie Okoro, supports the financial institution’s mission of tackling world poverty through development. The department’s clients include the institution’s shareholders and its 189 member countries. Over this past year, the team’s risk mitigation and other legal work contributed to the development of the Nachtigal Hydropower Project, a $1.4 billion, 420 million-watt hydropower plant in Cameroon, the first of its kind in the country. The legal team also shaped “the largest and most far-reaching internal policy reform exercise ever undertaken by a multilateral development bank.” NLJ Editor-in-Chief Lisa Helem caught up with Okoro for a Q&A.

How does the World Bank’s legal department approach the delivery of legal services? The World Bank Legal Vice Presidency—our legal department—is a team of proactive, independent legal advisers supporting the implementation of the World Bank’s development mission of ending poverty globally. We provide legal advice internationally to enable smart and scalable shared prosperity solutions. Unlike legal practices in the private sector, our team of 165 legal staff helps translate the development ethos of the World Bank through the daily transactions we engage in. Our team of international staff includes the highest talent in areas such as institutional administration, corporate finance, compliance, legal development finance, environmental and international law, structured finance and guarantees, and operations.