ABIANA NELSON

I am a Chartered Accountant and a Certified Internal Auditor with thirty-four years experience in the provision of auditing, accounting, and business solutions. The countries my work experience includes Ghana, Senegal, Mali, Niger, Chad, Mauritania, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, United States of America, and Bangladesh. I am a key team player with good communication, coaching, leadership skills, initiative and zeal for hard work.

• Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana - Qualified in May 2000
• Institute of Internal Auditors, USA - Qualified in April 2007
• Currently studying to qualify as a Certified Fraud Examiner

• Member - Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana
• Member - Institute of Internal Auditors

• 2018 - Panel member at the Institute of Internal Auditors conference, Ghana
• 2017, 2018, 2019 - Speaker at the Annual Internal Audit Agency Conference, Ghana
• 2014 - Facilitator for Continuous Professional Education training for ACCA Ghana
• 2014 to 2021 - PwC Business School Key facilitator in Internal Audit, Governance, Risk and Controls.

• Due diligence review of Ghana Commercial Bank to divest Government of Ghana shares to Private investors (1999, 2001 and 2003)
• I carried out the following:
• Analytical review of the financial statements of the bank and highlight key issues that require further review and management action.
• Appraisal of the bank’s current business and advise on critical business issues and non-value adding activities.
• Held regular discussions with the bank’s operational managers to identify strategic and other requisitions that will enhance operational performance and productivity of the bank.
• Financial due diligence of International Bank of Malaysia in Tanzania for a prospective investor (2001)
• I carried out an appraisal of the loan and investment portfolio for the purpose of advising a potential investor on the viability of the bank’s investment. This included the use of ratio analysis, corporate and social factors to determine the future prospects of the bank.
• Financial due diligence of Home Finance Company for the issue of bonds and shares (1999 and 2000)
• I reviewed the profit and cash flow forecasts and the projections included in the prospectus. This assignment also included a review of the borrowing facilities and the adequacy of working capital.
• Internal audit reviews of United Nations Development Programme and United Nations Fund for Population Activities.
• Assessment of control environment
• Recording of operational procedures and the testing of such procedures
• Evaluation of internal controls; and
• Ensuring compliance with rules, regulations, policies and procedures.
• (Sarbanes-Oxley review 2004)
• I carried out an internal control review for Gold Fields Company Limited and Ghana Bauxite Company Limited for the purpose of issuing an attestation report on the controls over the company’s financial reporting. This assignment gave me tremendous experience in mapping internal control and operations systems, identifying gaps and providing recommendations for enhancing systems and structures. This assignment involved;
• Documenting the accounting and internal control systems using Microsoft Visio and identifying and mapping controls to information processing objectives.
• Review of the criteria for identifying key processes and the documentation of controls
• Assessing design adequacy and effectiveness
• Testing the documentation to pre-performance standards
• Documenting attestation testing results and reporting any exceptions noted to management.
• Recommending improvements in accounting and internal control systems.
• External Audits
• I have external audits for several clients in various industries including:
• Financial Services
• Barclays Bank of Ghana Limited
• Azania Bank (Tanzania) Limited
• Jubilee Insurance Company (Tanzania) Limited
• Ecobank Ghana Limited
• Metropolitan and Allied Bank
• Enterprise Insurance Company Limited
• Social Security & National Insurance Trust
• Mining
• Satellite Goldfields Limited
• Abosso Goldfields Limited
• Gold Fields Ghana Limited
• Consumer & Industrial Products
• Unilever Ghana Limited
• Linear Agencies & Trading Ghana Limited
• Dannex Limited
• Project Audits
• Primary Education Project - a US$53 million project funded by USAID and implemented by the Ministry of Education
• Family Planning & Health Project - a US$35 million project co-ordinated by the Ministry of Finance
• Account Examination
• United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Accra and United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA)

Successfully established the Internal Control unit for Stanbic Bank Ghana. The model and systems became a prototype for other countries to follow.