Biography of Ian Walker: UK’S High Commissioner to Ghana

Iain Walker is a British diplomat who was born on December 6, 1976. He served as the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Ghana from August 2017 to June 2021.

Walker, a law graduate of the University of Dundee in Scotland, served in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit under Tony Blair and Gordon Brown before joining the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London as a Director of Finance and Strategy.

Since August 2017, Iain Walker has served as the UK’s High Commissioner to Ghana. He was previously a Director of Finance and Strategy on the Board of the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London.

Early life and education

Walker went to Dundee’s Hillside Primary School and Harris Academy. He earned his law degree from the University of Dundee in Scotland in 1998. He eventually relocated to London, where he worked for Ernst & Young (EY) as a chartered accountant specializing in banking and capital markets.

Iain moved to London after studying law at the University of Dundee in Scotland, where he worked for EY as a chartered accountant specializing in banking and capital markets.

He worked in Malawi and Kenya for an international non-governmental organization, then in Ethiopia for the UN, before returning to London to work in the Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit for Tony Blair and subsequently Gordon Brown.

Biography of Ian Walker: UK’S High Commissioner to Ghana

Career

Walker has previously worked as a consultant for PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and Ernst & Young (EY), two of the “Big Four” accounting organizations. Walker worked for international non-governmental organizations in Malawi and Kenya before joining the government, and later for the United Nations (UN) in Ethiopia.

He returned to London to serve in Tony Blair’s Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit and then for Gordon Brown’s Prime Minister’s Delivery Unit.

Diplomatic career

In 2010, Walker began working for the Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office. Walker was appointed as the United Kingdom’s High Commissioner to Ghana in February 2017, succeeding Jon Benjamin, while also serving as the British Ambassador to Benin, Burkina Faso, and Togo. His work was supposed to start in August of 2017.

Prior to his appointment, Ian Walker worked as a Director of Finance and Strategy for the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office in London. On August 19, 2017, he presented President Nana Akufo-Addo with his letter of credence. He arrived in Ghana in the country’s 60th year of independence.

The 60th anniversary of Ghana’s independence and historic links with the United Kingdom was considered as a turning point in fostering a stronger UK-Ghana collaboration for the following six decades.

Iain Walker’s objective as he arrives in Ghana on the 60th anniversary of the country’s independence is to build on the country’s strong historical links while also looking to the future, forming a UK-Ghana partnership that will be even stronger in the following 60 years.