Biography

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Luísa Dias Diogo became the first woman Prime Minister of Mozambique in 2004, representing the Mozambique Liberation Front, which has ruled the country since the nation’s independence in 1975.

Diogo was born in 1958 and went on to study economics at Maputo's Eduardo Mondlane University. After graduating with a bachelor's degree in 1983, she continued her studies at the University of London, where she earned a master's degree in financial economics in 1992. Diogo then went to work for the World Bank, serving as program officer in Mozambique from 1993-1994. 

​Prior to becoming Prime Minister, Dias was the Mozambique national government's Deputy Minister of Planning and Finance from 1994 until 2000, and Minister of Planning and Finance from 2000 until 2005 and was awarded Finance Minister of the Year by the Banker magazine in 2004. She was also appointed as a co-chair of the High–level Panel on the United Nations System-wide Coherence in 2006. 

During Former Prime Minister Diogo's time in power, she was especially focused on gender equality and women’s empowerment. She recently launched the Network of Women Ministers and Parliamentarians network, which brings together women ministers and parliamentarians to strengthen advocacy and lobbying activities in favor of gender equality legislation.

Following her time as Prime Minister, Diogo was appointed to the High-Level Panel on Global Sustainability by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in 2010. In 2012 she became the chairperson of Barclays Bank in Mozambique. 

In 2016, Diogo was appointed by Erik Solheim, the Chairman of the Development Assistance Committee, to serve on the High Level Panel on the Future of the Development Assistance Committee under the leadership of Mary Robinson.
Diogo is also a member of the African Union Foundation, as well as of the Club of Madrid.