Sierra Leone Telegraph: 10 February 2022:
World Bank Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa, Ousmane Diagana will arrive in Sierra Leone today, as part of his official tour of West Africa.
This will be Mr. Diagana’s first trip to the country since assuming his current position in July 2020.
Mr. Ousmane Diagana will hold high level talks on a wide range of development issues with President Julius Maada Bio, senior government officials and development partners.
While in Freetown, Mr. Diagana will also meet with representatives of the civil society and private sector.
Mr. Ousmane Diagana will join President Bio to formally commission the World Bank’s 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.
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.
Sierra Leone’s GDP is estimated at $3.8 Billion, while total current World Bank Group funding portfolio for Sierra Leone stands at $1.1 billion, covering 17 national projects.
The government needs to do more to attract private sector investments, rather than have an economy that is largely donor, IMF and World Bank driven.
Ousmane Diagana is a Mauritanian national, and in his position as the Regional Vice President for Western and Central Africa, he 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; and 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.
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