Magdaline Wanja

I lead multi-country health and development financing initiatives across Africa, designing financing strategies, managing budgets, developing investment cases, and mobilizing resources from donors, multilateral development banks, and the private sector to drive sustainable impact.

Magereza Sacco, 

Finance Manager, 05/2021 – ongoing

Magereza sacco is a tier 1 deposit taking sacco with a member ship of 30,000 members and an asset base of KES 7billion.

Key Contributions

• Spearheading the development, implementation and monitoring of operational and investment budgets.
• Promptly prepare accurate and reliable financial reports and presentation of the same to different stakeholders.
• Continuously engage in balance sheet reconciliations and review of bank reconciliations
• Highlighting cost inefficiency areas and implementing cost saving strategies.
• Continuous scouting for investment opportunities and monitoring of the Sacco investments for profitability.
• Manage cash flows and ensure adequate credit periods with vendor engagements 
• Assessing profitability of department operations and products, and providing advisement on the same.
• Maintaining open communications with the board of directors, CEO and heads of departments on matters arising.
• Ensure  financial compliance with organizational, regulators’, and government rules and regulations and control procedures. 
• Tasked with spearheading development of the 5years strategic plan for the SACCO 2023-2028.
• Provide guidance to staff on expense coding, budget tracking, and compliance best practices.
• Identifying key weaknesses in internal controls and proposed procedures and controls, reducing internal and external risk exposure areas while boosting efficiency.
• Responsible of spear heading internal and external audits and implementations of management letter recommendations.
• Strengthened internal controls and documentation processes in collaboration with the internal auditors

Médecins Du Monde-Kenya and Somalia 

Deputy Finance and Admin Coordinator, 03/2018 – 08/2020 

Oversaw all financial reporting and budget monitoring for an international humanitarian organization with an annual budget of €2.5M. Served as a leader in accounting and finance operations under the following donors AFD, SDC, SIDA, UNICEF and MDP, and budgets across two countries, ensuring compliance with company policies and donor guidelines. Oversaw the Human Resources Department and a staff of 30 for Nairobi and Somalia. 

Key Contributions: 

• Credited with developing budgets that were grounded in reality while upholding the mission of the organization. 
• Spearheaded an anticipatory budgeting approach that forecasted overrun events and streamlined the expenditures process. 
• Promptly processed vendor payments while keeping an eye on office cashflow and procurement plan.
• Optimized resources and saved €50,000 from the annual budget, allowing for the reallocation of funds to programs in need.   
• Ensured timely closure of monthly accountancy with all costs allocations done for and to different donor programs
• Uncovered fraud within the Finance Department, saving the company thousands of dollars. 

o Implemented control mechanisms, monitored and managed cash and accounts, continually reviewed all entries and reconciliations, and verified all documentation related to monthly accountancy to prevent future instances of fraud. 

• Maintained transparency among leaders and stakeholders including donors, beneficiaries, and partners by preparing and delivery timely reports. 
•  Tracked and maintained documentation for grantee payments, sponsorship agreements, and supporting records while identifying and resolving operational bottlenecks related to payments and documentation, and integration of the same with donor reports
• Led all internal, donor, and government audits without major findings.   
• In charge of monitoring expenditure activities by the sub grantees and partners through capacity building and regular information sharing. 
• Responsible for the Human Resource office for the mission.

Mercy Corps Kenya (04/2013 – 02/2018) 

Senior Finance Reporting and Compliance Officer, 03/2015 – 02/2018 

Moved through two promotions in under two years that culminated in the oversight of a 10-person team across five offices holding multi-donor budgets for 13 programs with six donors. Supported program managers and the finance director by monitoring program expenditures, analyzing discrepancies, and preparing comprehensive reports on budget vs actual variances. Developed detailed monthly and yearly financial reports detailing grant projections and organization’s financial status. Oversaw general accounting duties including, AD-HOC requests, reconciliations, cash counts, end of month reporting, journal entry closing, and discrepancy resolution 

Key Contributions: 

• Administered program budgets, closeouts, and benefit analysis under the EU, DFID, and USAID. 
• Successfully supervised monthly accounting closure procedures and prepared relevant reports 
• Promptly prepared the monthly program budget vs Actual reports and discussed the same with program managers
• Led the team in preparation and follow up of cashflow on a timely monthly basis 
• Accurately prepared shared cost allocation between country programs and the regional office as per staff time allocation. 
• Ensured compliance with organizational, donor, and Kenyan rules and regulations and control policies. 
• Served as the point person for conducting and responding to audit requests. 

  Additional Experience 

Finance Officer, Mercy Corps Kenya, 04/2015 – 02/2015 

Assistant Finance Officer, Mercy Corps Kenya, 04/2013 – 03/2014 

Data Analyst-Visualisation and Power Bi

September 2024- March 2025

Masters in Science Finance, Finance and Investments 

University of Nairobi, 2015 

CPAK 

Institute of Certified Public Accountants Kenya, 2013 

Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce, Finance and Accounting Kenyatta University, 2012