22 December 2014
GENEVA – The Board of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria appointed Mouhamadou Diagne, a distinguished auditor and financial supervisor, as Inspector General.
Mr. Diagne, a Certified Public Accountant, has 20 years of experience managing teams of auditors and financial analysts. With a strong background in international public accounting firms Deloitte, Andersen and Ernst & Young, Mr. Diagne currently serves as Director of Strategy and Operations in the World Bank Group’s Internal Audit.
“We are extremely pleased to name Mouhamadou to this critical role at the Global Fund,” said Dr. Nafsiah Mboi, Chair of the Global Fund Board. “His diverse experience and high professional standards are matched by a wonderfully human touch. We expect great things from him.”
An independent, well-resourced and transparent Office of the Inspector General is essential for the success of the Global Fund, Dr. Nafsiah Mboi affirmed. The Global Fund is committed to the highest standards of accountability in all matters, including the audits and investigations produced by the Office of the Inspector General.
A native of Senegal, fluent in French, English and Wolof, Mr. Diagne is responsible for the strategic vision of Internal Audit, and for overseeing all audit delivery teams at the World Bank. In a fundamental shift, Mr. Diagne has led implementation of a strategic, risk-based approach to auditing, moving away from routine compliance reviews, in order to maximize strategic impact.
Under Mr. Diagne’s leadership and dynamic approach, Internal Audit contributed to far-reaching institutional reforms across many areas of strategic significance to the World Bank, including more integrated risk management across the group, a holistic approach to managing risks related to financial models, a reassessment of the bank’s approach to corporate budgeting, and significant improvements in the corporate scorecard and performance measurement processes, among others.
Mr. Diagne’s ability to manage change in complex operational oversight processes grew out of his earlier experience as Director of Internal Audit at the Federal National Mortgage Association, known as Fannie Mae, the leading provider of secondary-market mortgage finance in the U.S. In seven years that spanned an extreme financial crisis, Mr. Diagne directed a corporate and financial audit team that helped the company remediate deficiencies in its system of internal controls and re-establish credibility with U.S. regulators.
Building a strong team of audit and advisory experts through effective recruiting, personalized mentoring, a mindset of constant learning and a culture of independence and objectivity coupled with a collaborative approach, is the key to successful management of auditing and financial oversight, Mr. Diagne said.
Mr. Diagne replaces Martin O’Malley, who announced in July 2014 that he would resign to move to London for personal reasons. Mr. O’Malley will step down on 30 January 2015, and Mr. Diagne plans to start work in March 2015. Katie Hodson, Director of Investigations, will be Acting Inspector General during the interim.
The Global Fund’s Office of the Inspector General now has more than 40 auditors, investigators, and other professional staff, the most it has ever had. Since 2013 it has been implementing a more strategic and proactive approach to preventing fraud and misuse of funds, as recommended by the Board and its Audit and Ethics Committee.
Previously, Mr. Diagne also worked for eight years in international public accounting firms, as an audit manager at Deloitte, and as a senior manager for Andersen and Ernst & Young, honing his skills as an auditor and manager.
Mr. Diagne is also a Certified Internal Auditor, and won the William S. Smith Excellence Award from the Institute of Internal Auditors for submitting one of the five best exam papers worldwide, out of a pool of 13,300 candidates from 86 countries. In addition to being a CPA, he is also a Certified Investments and Derivatives Auditor.
Mr. Diagne earned a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and a Master’s of Science in Finance at the University of Maryland. He earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting at Howard University, where he graduated Summa Cum Laude, and a Bachelor’s in Communication with a specialization in print journalism at the University of Dakar, where he also graduated with honors. He is a dual citizen of Senegal and the United States.
He enjoys teaching, and has instructed university students in accounting, advanced auditing, and management. Outside his professional and community activities, he defines his biggest pastime as spending leisure time with his wife Cathy and their four sons.
The Global Fund Board engaged in an extensive search process, evaluating applications from more than 100 qualified professionals, before selecting Mr. Diagne.