Albert Baron Ansu
Ousmane Diagana is the newly appointed World Bank Vice President for Western and Central Africa and is due to arrive in Sierra Leone on a working tour February 10th-11th.
While in Sierra Leone he is expected to visit His Excellency President Bio. A media advisory from the world country office indicates that President Bio and Mr. Ousmane Diagana are going to hold high level talks on a range of development issues.
Also, the World Bank Regional Vice President will be meeting with a cross section of civil society and the private sector.
According to the media advisory, “Mr. Ousmane Diagana will join President Bio to formally commission the World Bank new Country Office in Freetown on Friday February 10. Accompanied by senior state officials, they will both visit project sites, including the August 14, 2017 mudslide disaster site at Motormeh, Regent and a primary school in Freetown.”
Ousmane Diagana, a Mauritanian national, is the Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa as of July 1, 2020. In this position, Mr. Diagana leads relations with 22 countries, and oversees a portfolio of projects, technical assistance and financial resources worth more than $40 billion.
Prior to this appointment, Mr. Diagana was the Vice President of the World Bank Group Human Resources. In that role, he provided overall strategic leadership on human resource matters to the entire World Bank Group and oversaw the development and implementation of the World Bank Group People Strategy, and Human Resources policies, programs and services.
From October 2015 to January 2018, he was the Vice President for Ethics and Business Conduct (EBC) and Chief Ethics Officer of the World Bank Group.
Mr. Diagana is recognized as an organizational leader, personal mentor and a professional role model. He brings to this role a deep knowledge of Bank Group operations, a reputation for innovative and strategic thinking, recognized managerial skills, and country office perspective.
Previously, he was World Bank Country Director for Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Benin, Guinea, and Togo, based in Abidjan. Prior to that, he held the position of Country Director for Mali, Niger, Chad, and Guinea, based in Bamako. Between 2006 and 2009, Mr. Diagana was Country Manager in Niger and from 2004 to 2006, he was Program Leader in Morocco. In these capacities, he effectively led diverse, multi-disciplinary teams to deliver innovative strategies and operations—including in fragile and conflict-affected countries. In 2009, Mr. Diagana received the Good Manager Award from the World Bank Group Staff Association in recognition of his leadership skills.
Ousmane Diagana joined the World Bank in 1992. He has degrees in economics, finance, and planning, a certificate in education policies and analysis and speaks French, English, Arabic, Soninke, Fulani, and Wolof.
Sierra Leone joined the World Bank Group on September 10, 1962 and since then the Bank has been the country’s leading development partner, supporting major investments in many sectors including health, education, energy, agriculture, fisheries, ICT, transport, and mining. The World Bank’s affiliate, IFC, has also been a key supporter of various private sector activities. Total current World Bank Group portfolio for Sierra Leone stands at $1.1 billion, covering 17 national projects.