Iain Walker

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Iain Walker (born 6 December 1976) is a British diplomat. Between August 2017 and June 2021, he was the United Kingdom's High Commissioner to Ghana. [1] [2] A law graduate of the University of Dundee, Scotland, Walker worked in the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, before serving as the Director of Finance and Strategy at the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London. [3] [4]

Contents

Early life and education

Walker attended Hillside Primary and Harris Academy in Dundee. [5] He studied law at the University of Dundee, Scotland and graduated in 1998. He later moved to London where he qualified as a chartered accountant with Ernst & Young (EY) specialising in banking and capital markets. [6] [5]

Career

Walker has held consulting roles at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Ernst & Young (EY) two of the ‘Big Four’ accounting firms in the past. [5] [4] Prior to entering into the public service, Walker worked in Malawi and Kenya for International non-government organisation, [5] then later for the United Nations (UN) in Ethiopia. He returned to London to work in the Prime Minister's Delivery Unit initially for Tony Blair and then subsequently Gordon Brown. [6]

Diplomatic career

Walker joined the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in 2010. In February 2017, Walker was appointed as the United Kingdom's High Commissioner to Ghana to succeed Jon Benjamin, [4] [7] serving simultaneously as British Ambassador to Benin, Burkina Faso and Togo. [5] His work was to officially commence from August 2017. Before his appointment, he was a Board Member of the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office in London serving as a Director of Finance and Strategy. He presented his letter of credence to the President Nana Akufo-Addo on 19 August 2017. [1] He arrived in Ghana within the 60th year of the country's Independence. The  celebration of 60 years of independence and historic ties between the two countries was seen as pivot to foster a stronger UK-Ghana partnership for the next six decades. [6]

Personal life

Walker has been married to Claire since 2007; they have three children. In 2017, his family relocated along with him to Ghana. [5] [2]

See also

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References

  1. 1 2 "Nana Receives 4 Envoys". Modern Ghana. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  2. 1 2 Strachan, Graeme. "Dundee man spends five days hosting Duke and Duchess in Ghana". The Courier. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  3. ↑ "Iain Walker Speaker Profile | Tech in Ghana Conference London 2020". techinghanaconference.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "Iain Walker appointed new British High Commissioner to Ghana". Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always. 17 February 2017. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Dundee man appointed High Commissioner to Ghana". Evening Telegraph. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  6. 1 2 3 "Iain Walker". GOV.UK. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
  7. ↑ "UK High Commissioner to Ghana, Jon Benjamin set to leave in August - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. Retrieved 11 March 2021.
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