Meet Mohamed Kande of PwC, the first African to lead a Big Four firm

Mohamed Kande is the new Global Chair of PricewaterhouseCoopers International (PwC). The company appointed him to his current role in December 2023, and he began his work on July 1, 2024. He succeeded Bob Moritz, who started serving as Global Chair in 2016.

“Today [July 1] is my first day as Global Chair of PwC. It’s a great honour to take on this role at such an important time, when global megatrends like technological disruption and the climate transition are driving businesses to radically transform how they create, deliver, and capture value,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

“I firmly believe that we have the right strategy for our network. By bringing together multidisciplinary teams powered by technology, we can help our clients and stakeholders build trust, solve important problems, and deliver sustained outcomes.”

The appointment makes him the first African to become chairman of one of the world’s four largest financial audit and consulting firms, known as the “Big Four.” Also, he becomes the first consulting partner to lead PwC. This company traditionally focuses on audit and tax, with offices in 151 countries and more than 364,000 people. For the 12 months ending 30 June 2023, PwC firms around the world recorded gross revenues of $53.1 billion.

According to the Financial Times, Kande has been with PwC since 2011 via its acquisition of consulting firm PRTM. He has since played several roles in the company. He became a member of PwC’s Global Leadership Team and has served as Global Advisory Leader since 2019. 

Also, he previously held various multi-territory leadership roles and has been responsible for helping PwC’s global stakeholders and clients solve their most complex problems, according to this press release.

Kande, a naturalized American, was born to an Ivorian father and a Lebanese-Ivorian mother. The third of eight children, he grew up in Ivory Coast and moved to France when he was 16 years old to pursue his education.

He graduated from Engineering School in Normandy (ESIGELEC). Afterward, he went to Canada to study for a master’s degree in electrical engineering at the prestigious Polytechnique Montréal. 

His quest for knowledge and better opportunities led him to the United States to pursue his “American dream.” In Chicago, he worked with Motorola, where he helped the company roll out new wireless networks worldwide. It was difficult working there in the beginning partly because of the language barrier, according to the Africa Report.

“In meetings, I could only understand half of what was being said … I would take the time to reread my emails to make sure I understood what was going on,” he said years ago.

He made a career transition after retraining as a consultant with an MBA from the University of Chicago. He then joined PRTM, a consultancy specializing in operational strategy, supply chain innovation, product innovation, and customer experience, in 2007. PwC acquired PRTM in 2011, appointing him as director for the Europe, Middle East, and South Asia regions.

In addition to his MBA, he obtained his chartered accountant certification (CPA), which is needed for moving up the ranks in audit firms. This enabled him to become a senior partner at PwC USA. As global chair of the PwC network now, Kande will help balance the interests of local member firms in 152 countries, the Africa Report noted.