18 Mar 2025

Azizi Consulting facilitating a session during the Corruption Risk Framework Training of Trainers for Government of Somalia officials

From February 24 to 28, Azizi Consulting, in collaboration with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), conducted a Corruption Risk Management Training for Trainers (TOT) for the Government of Somalia officials.

The four-day expert-led training convened by UNODC and held at Safari Park, Nairobi, was designed to enhance the capacity of the officials to implement the Corruption Risk Management Framework in their various government institutions.

A Corruption Risk Framework is a structured approach to identify, assess, mitigate, monitor and report corruption risks that may impact an organization.

The pivotal training was also designed to transform the trainees into trainers, equipped to proactively disseminate the knowledge on navigating complex risk landscapes to other members of their respective government institutions.

This Trainers of Trainers model thus creates institutional self-sufficiency, as it enables the government institutions to continuously impart the knowledge and skills acquired—a significant step towards growing the integrity of public officials and institutions in Somalia.

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Anti-Fraud/Corruption Risks Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

15 Mar 2025

Azizi-consulting-daniel-muondu-appointed-to-umoja-international-board

Daniel Muondu, co-founder and team Lead at Azizi Consulting, has been appointed to the Board of Directors at Umoja International.

Umoja International is a microfinance organization providing accessible financial solutions to women entrepreneurs across Eastern and Southern Africa.

The regional microfinance organization has 120 branches and over 810 employees and has lent to over 80,000 borrowers, 80% of whom are rural.

Muondu’s appointment to the Board as a Non-Executive Director and a Member of the Audit and Risk Committee comes as Azizi Consulting continues to demonstrate leadership in Strategy, Risk Management, Change Management and Internal Controls across Africa and beyond.

“I am honoured to be appointed to Umoja International’s Board of Directors. My experience and understanding of continental dynamics and commitment to social impact align with Umoja’s mission of empowering people to build a brighter future,” said Muondu.

“This appointment represents a great opportunity to scale further governance, risk management and controls framework oversight in microfinance development in Africa.”

Umoja International is currently operating in Kenya, Uganda and Zambia, and plans to start operations in Tanzania are in the final stages.

Related Resources

  • Click here to learn about Umoja International’s Work

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Solutions, please download our Company Profile or email us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

08 Mar 2025

Internal Auditors are operating in an increasingly complex and changing environment.

  • With the emergence of other assurance providers, how do we strategically re-position internal audit?
  • With management increasingly seeking to know what is happening today and what may happen tomorrow, how do we re-position internal audit as a reliable business advisor?
  • With increased automation, how do we re-position Internal Audit to leverage new technologies?

Azizi Consulting’s Team Lead, Daniel Muondu, has thrown his hat in the ring for the position of Board Governor in the forthcoming IIA-Kenya Board Elections.

Muondu’s candidature is founded on answering the above queries through the following four pillars:

  1. Protect Value: Champion the unique value of internal audit in the evolving assurance landscape.
  2. Create Value: Strengthen the positioning of internal auditors as trusted business advisors, increasingly providing advice, insight and foresight in addition to assurance, and at the same time maintaining independence and objectivity.
  3. Sustain Value: Enhance the capacity of internal auditors to continue providing value in an automated world, leveraging new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Big Data.
  4. Develop Leaders: Foster the skills required today and in the future in areas such as critical thinking, data analytics, strategic communication (including idea selling) and creativity (i.e., thinking of solutions for emerging challenges).

Save the Date – IIA-Kenya Board Elections 2025: March 10-13.

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Internal Audit Solutions, please download our Company Profile or email us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

05 Mar 2025

daniel-muondu-for-IIA-Kenya-governor

Azizi Consulting’s Co-founder and Team Lead, Daniel Muondu (CIA, CPA, CISA, CFE), has added his name to the list of candidates vying to represent the Institute of Internal Auditors-Kenya (IIA-Kenya) as Board Governor.

Muondu, who holds Certification in Sustainability and Climate Risk Management and Certification in AI and Machine Learning (ongoing), has led Azizi Consulting for over two decades, successfully implementing complex projects across Africa in the areas of:

  • Internal Audit
  • Governance
  • Strategy and Risk Management
  • ICT Audit and Forensic Audit
  • Public Finance Management and Public Procurement

He has steered Azizi Consulting into a Pan-African Consultancy, serving top executives in nations across Africa, such as Botswana, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and most recently, Mozambique and South Africa.

In the area of Internal Audit, in particular, Muondu’s extensive experience includes providing technical support in the:

  • Development of Kenya County Governments’ Internal Audit Manual
  • Training of Kenya Government Internal Auditors to attain IIA Certified Government Auditing
  • Establishment of Performance Audit Function in the Malawi Internal Auditor General Office
  • Development of the Tanzania Internal Auditor General Office Strategic Plan
  • Capability Assessment of the Internal Audit Function in the Federal Government of Somalia

IIA-Kenya’s Governship

“In the course of Azizi Consulting’s work and impact across Africa as well as a long-serving and certified IIA Facilitator and IIA Trainer of Trainers, I am happy to extend and expand my service to the institute in the capacity of Board Governor,” said Muondu as he announced his candidacy at the IIA-Kenya Governors’ Forum where candidates presented their manifesto to members.

“With all the new challenges coming up—from generative AI and digitization to sustainability and geopolitics—being an internal auditor is more complex today than ever,” added Muondu.

Muondu’s governorship will be guided on implementing strategies that will enable internal auditors to continuously create, protect and sustain the value internal auditors provide to their stakeholders.

  • Create Value: With management increasingly seeking to know what is happening today and what may happen tomorrow, how do we re-position internal audit as a reliable business advisor?
  • Protect Value: With the emergence and growth of other assurance providers, how can we strategically re-position internal audit?
  • Sustain Value: With increased automation, how do we re-position internal audit to leverage new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cloud Computing and Big Data?

Be Involved, Be Heard

As a member of IIA-Kenya, you can support Muondu’s candidature by turning up to vote during the IIA-Kenya elections scheduled for March 10-13.

You can also join him in Re-Imagining Internal Audit by sharing the four pillars of re-positioning Internal Audit in Kenya. Click here and here to download the pillars, and let’s shape the future together!

For more information on Daniel Muondu and his candidacy for the IIA-Kenya governor position, you can connect with him on LinkedIn: muondu-muondu.

For more information on Daniel Muondu’s professional and academic background, download his professional bio.

31 Oct 2024

assessing-risk-management-in-marine-conseervation

In October, Azizi Consulting partnered with UNODC to facilitate a three-day forum on Corruption Risk Assessment and Management in the Southern Africa Marine Sector.

The forum, held on 22-24 October in Cape Town, South Africa was organized by South Africa’s Department of Forestry, Fisheries and the Environment.

It focused on assessing the corruption risks impacting marine and coastal management and developing strategies to mitigate the same.

Overfishing depletes our oceans. Shrinking fishing populations affect the balance of marine ecosystems and the millions of people across Africa who depend on healthy oceans for livelihoods and food security.

The three-day forum provided a great platform for Azizi Consulting to impart risk assessment and risk mitigation tools to the marine and coastal management officers from across South Africa.

Always an honour to be of service to the personnel at the forefront of detecting and deterring illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing in the continent—a crucial step towards a future where marine ecosystems and the blue economy can thrive.

Related Resource: Rotten Fish: A Guide on Addressing Corruption in the Fisheries Sector by UNODC

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Anti-Fraud/Corruption Risks Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

13 Oct 2024

effective-audit-committees-training-by-azizi-consulting-kenya

Is your Board providing effective oversight over your procurement process?

In October, Azizi Consulting had the pleasure of facilitating a productive training session on Effective Audit Committees for the Council Audit and Risk Committees of Kenya Institute of Supplies Management.

The training, held in Machakos County, was organized by the Institute of Internal Auditors Kenya – IIA Kenya.

It focused on the role of the Board in providing oversight over the procurement process in a quest towards enabling more collaborative audits.

The key areas tackled in the training were:

  • Board procurement oversight
  • Procurement risk analysis, controls and red flags
  • Combined assurance mapping
    • Are we over-auditing (duplication of resources)?
    • Are we under-auditing (weak or no oversight over key risks)?

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Audit Committee Capacity Building Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

31 Aug 2024

leadership-and-risk-management-training-ICPAK-in-partnership-with-Azizi-Consulting

Are you fostering a risk-aware culture in your organization and helping your leadership have a firm grasp of the intersection of leadership and risk management?

In August 2024, we had the privilege of carrying out a Leadership and Risk Management Training for the Board of Directors and Senior Management of the National Construction Authority-Kenya.

The Leadership and Risk Management Training is a particularly resourceful investment for seasoned executives looking to gain the insights and frameworks to sharpen their acumen in strategic and resilient leadership.

The training can also be an asset to the newcomer in management seeking to gain the knowledge to lead effectively from the onset—proactively identifying and navigating risks for sustainable success.

The August training, organized by ICPAK (Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Kenya), facilitated by Azizi Consulting and held in Nakuru, delved into the areas of:

1. Risk as part of corporate governance

The role of risk management and why corporate leadership needs to manage risk more proactively, including taking into account the risk exposure of every business activity.

2. Importance of risk governance

The benefits of incorporating risk governance as a strategic priority for the executive leadership.

3. The risk and strategy relationship

Understanding the linkage between risk management and strategy implementation.

4. Risk governance tools

Setting up the systems that help your organization manage risk, compliance and governance.

5. Risk appetite and linkage to strategy

The role of risk appetite and how the Board can better articulate your organization’s risk appetite and link it back to strategy to determine whether the organization is taking the right risks: are you assuming too much or too little risk? Should alternative strategies for reaching the goals set out be considered?

6. The role of different players in ERM 

The different but complementary roles in ERM (Enterprise Risk Management)–Board, Management and Risk Champions and how they can work together to agree on the risk appetite and strategy of the organization and align their risk management activities accordingly.

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Leadership and Risk Management Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

16 Aug 2024

GARP-workshop-2024

It was an eventful start to September for Azizi Consulting as we had the pleasure of participating in the GARP (Global Association of Risk Professionals) Workshop on Financial Implications and Opportunities in Sustainability and Climate Risk.

Climate risk is no longer a distant concern for businesses, governments and economies.

If overlooked, climate risks, such as erratic weather patterns, including heatwaves or flush floods, can lead to infrastructure damage, power outages, transportation disturbances and disruption of the supply chain. These can result in disruption of operations and lost productivity, leading to reputational damage.

Climate risk assessment allows the executive leadership to identify areas of vulnerability in their operations that could be affected by climate risk and prioritize the risk mitigation strategies—be it by relocating facilities or adopting preventive measures, such as elevated foundations, to minimize losses from extreme weather.

As the world seeks to transition to a low-carbon economy, a climate risk assessment also enables the leadership to forecast the climate policies that could impact their processes and plan to transition accordingly. For example, start investing in clean technologies or even identify markets emerging from a growing demand for clean energy and capitalize on the new market opportunities.

Filling the Gap with GARP

The GARP workshop was thus timely. It provided a resourceful forum to reflect on the importance of organizations proactively managing climate risk, including undertaking a Sustainability Risk Maturity Assessment to check on:

  1. Governance: policies to guide the organization in implementing sustainability, informing the Board’s oversight and outlining the management roles.
  2. Processes: integrating sustainability into what the organization does.
  3. M&E framework: access implementation and impact of sustainability initiatives by the organization—the ratio of what we say and what we do as an organisation.

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Climate Risk Assessment and Sustainability advisory, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

13 Aug 2024

UNODC-training-Kenya-fisheries-azizi-consulting-corruption-risks-training

With its strategic location and ample natural coastal and marine resources, the Kenyan coastline grapples with the risk of illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing (IUU).

The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) supports countries such as Kenya to devise robust measures to counter the destructive economic and environmental impacts of IUU.

These measures include building the capacity of national agencies to incorporate corruption risk management into their strategies to counter the far-reaching impact of IUU fishing.

In August 2024, Azizi Consulting, under the stewardship of UNODC, facilitated a Corruption Risk Assessment and Risk Mitigation Forum for the Corruption Prevention Committee at the Kenya Fisheries Services (KeFS).

Formulating a Corruption Prevention Policy

The primary objective of the forum held in Malindi, Kilify County, was to support KeFS’ Corruption Prevention Committee in implementing high-priority activities in the KeFS Corruption Mitigation Plan launched in 2023.

Azizi Consulting led the session to enhance the participants’ capacity to develop a corruption prevention policy.

The policy helps identify risk areas where corruption is likely to occur and develop risk mitigation plans to address those areas.

The session also imparted pragmatic skills for improved human resources management.

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Anti-Fraud/Corruption Risks Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting

 

30 Jul 2024

UNODC-risk-management-training-mozambique-2024-by-azizi-consulting

The health of our forests directly impacts the health of humanity, as our lives depend on the large amounts of oxygen forests produce.

Forests are also home to wildlife. They host 68% of the world’s mammals, 75% of the world’s birds, and 80% of the world’s amphibians. If forests are lost, so too is the world’s biodiversity.

Risk Management for Forest Protection 
In July 2024, Azizi Consulting partnered with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) to provide Risk Management Training for forest restoration in Mozambique.

The training is geared towards enabling governmental institutions to tackle corruption risks in the forest sector across Africa.

So far, we have had the honour of holding similar training in various countries on the continent, including Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sierra Leonne, DR Congo, Botswana, Malawi and Mozambique.

Related Resources:

  • Click here for more information on the UNODC Mozambique forum.
  • Click here to read UNODC’s Forests in Danger: Why Corruption Drives Forests to Extinction

For more information on Azizi Consulting’s Fraud Risk Assessment Training, please get in touch with us at riskmgt@aziziconsulting.com 

For updates and insights on our work and impact, please follow us on LinkedIn at Azizi Consulting