Prof. Kwesi Botchwey - Chairman

Dr. Kwesi Botchwey, Ghana's longest serving Finance Minister, has had a long career in academia, public service and international development work, spanning over four decades. From 1970 to1982, he lectured at the Universities of Zambia, Dar es Salam, Tanzania and the University of Ghana, Legon.

In 1982, he was appointed Chairman of the National Economic Review Committee and later as the substantive PNDC Secretary for Finance and Economic Planning, a position he held for an unprecedented thirteen years. During this period, Dr. Botchwey managed the most far-reaching program of macroeconomic reform and institutional transformation in the economy of Ghana.

After his long stewardship at the Ministry of Finance, Dr. Botchwey went back to academia and held academic positions in a number of leading universities and institutions, notably, the Harvard Institute for International Development(HIID), where he was Development Advisor; the Centre for International Development at Harvard (CID), where he was Director of African Research and Programs; the Earth Institute at Columbia University, where he was Senior Research Scholar; and the Fletcher School at Tufts University, where he was Professor of Practice in Development Economics.

Alongside his career in public service and academia, Dr. Botchwey has also had an active and distinguished career in international development work. He served as Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Global Coalition for Africa (GCA), the Executive Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), the African

Population Advisory Council (APAC), the Commonwealth Expert Group on Good Governance and the elimination of Corruption in Economic Management. He was also a member of the World Health Organization (WHO) Commission on Macroeconomics and Health, the Carnegie Economic Research Network (CERN), and the Governing Boards of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and the Centre for Global Development (GCD).

Dr. Botchwey was also one of a group of distinguished academics who conducted the first ever independent review of the International Monetary Fund's Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF). In 2004, he was appointed a member of the Consultative Board to the Director General of the World Trade Organization (WTO) that drew up the seminal report on the Future of the WTO: Addressing the Challenges of the New Millennium.

He has published widely and co-edited a book, 'Good Growth and Governance for Africa: Rethinking Development Strategies' with the Nobel Prize winning Economist, Professor Joseph Stiglitz and others.

Dr Botchwey was educated at the University of Ghana, Legon, Yale Law School and the University of Michigan Law School, where he received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB), Master of Laws (LLM) and Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) degrees, respectively. He also holds an Honorary Doctorate Degree from the University of Cape Coast.

He is currently Chairman of the African Development Policy Ownership Initiative (ADPOI) as well as the Board of the Ghana National Gas Company.

Dr. Esther Ofei-Aboagye - Vice Chairperson

Esther Oduraa Ofei-Aboagye is a social policy analyst and a development management consultant. She was the Director of the Institute of Local Government Studies (ILGS) from January 2005 to January 2015. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Social Studies and a Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Coast; a Master’s in Public Administration from Carleton University in Canada; and a Doctorate in Public Policy from the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.

Dr. Ofei-Aboagye started her working life as a tutor at the Presbyterian Women’s Training College at Aburi. She worked at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) from 1990 to 1999. She joined the Institute of Local Government Studies in 1999, where she is still employed.

Dr. Ofei-Aboagye works mainly in the areas of decentralized administration and local governance, policy formulation and analysis, gender and development, social protection, public sector management and reform, and local economic development. She has consulted widely for national and international organizations and has a number of publications to her credit.

She has served on boards of public bodies and civil society organizations. Presently, she serves on the University of Ghana Council, the Ghana Tourism Authority Board and the National Development Planning Commission. She has also chaired the Executive Council of the Integrated Social Development Centre (ISODEC), the Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) and is active in several other organizations. She is an individual member of the international action-policy-research network, Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO).

Dr. Nii Moi Thompson - Director-General

Dr. Thompson was the senior economic advisor and acting deputy resident representative of the United Nations Development Programme in Pretoria, South Africa, prior to joining the government as an economic advisor in November 2013.  In September 2014, President Mahama appointed him Director-General of the National Development Planning Commission.

Dr. Thompson has extensive experience in economic policy formulation and development work in Ghana and elsewhere.   Among other places, he worked as an analyst at the Office of Management and Budget in the US City of Pittsburgh while he was a doctoral student at the University of Pittsburgh in 1994. He later worked as a senior economist at the Bureau of Fiscal and Economic Analysis, Office of the State Deputy Comptroller in New York City, where he was responsible for federal, European and Japanese economic policies and their impact on New York City's economy, the largest and most globalised municipal economy in the US.

He returned to Ghana in 1998 after a 22-year absence and upon setting up a development consultancy quickly became a vocal presence in matters of economic development in Ghana. His clients included the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Economic Planning and Regional Integration, the National Development Planning Commission, as well as foreign governments and international organisations, such as the World Bank, USAID and the Africa Capacity Building Foundation in Zimbabwe.  He also worked as a researcher for the Centre for Budget Advocacy, a research fellow and head of research at the Institute of Democratic Governance, and the executive director of the Development Policy Institute, all in Accra. 

In 2000, and again in 2009, he served on the Transition Team on the Economy.  In 2010, he accepted an invitation from President Mills to become a Commissioner of NDPC, a position he occupied (even while working abroad) until his appointment as Director-General.

He later served as chief technical adviser on local economic development (LED) for the ILO in Ghana, managing LED projects in 8 districts in the Central Region that greatly built the capacity of SMEs and small business associations. Through the ILO, he later served as an advisor to the government of Sierra Leone before taking up the appointment with the UN in South Africa in 2011.

In South Africa, he championed the UN's Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and periodically addressed the SA parliament on the importance of the MDGs. He was the lead writer of the national manual on how legislatures can influence the attainment of the MDGs. 

Along with colleagues from the African Union, the African Development Bank, UNDP and the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), he co-wrote the African Economic Outlook for 2012 and 2013 with a focus on economic transformation and youth employment, respectively.  

A member of the American Economic Association, Dr. Thompson holds a BA in economics from the City University of New York (Brooklyn College); an MA in international economics from the State University of New York (Albany); and a PhD in development economics and public policy from the University of Pittsburgh, all in the United States.

Between 1977 and 1984, Dr. Thompson worked as a journalist - starting as a reporter with the We Yone  newspaper in Freetown, Sierra Leone, and ending as an editor of the Daily Observer newspaper in Monrovia, Liberia. He was among the first group of journalists to be jailed (in 1981) under the dictatorship of Sgt. Doe. He views journalism and economics as "first cousins".

Mr Ebenezer T. Anuwa - Greater Accra Region

Mr. Anuwa-Amarh Tawiah Eben holds an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cape Coast, Ghana and a BSc in Geodetic Engineeering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Ghana.

Mr. Anuwa-Amarh has over fifteen (15) years’ post M. Phil experience and over twenty (20) years’ working experience in the public, private and Non-governmental Organisations, with ten (10) of those years in senior managerial positions.  

He is currently a Director at  Deron & Partners (Knowledge Management and Research) and an Associate Director (Human Capital Development & Research) at Baker Tilly Andah + Andah. He is also a part-time lecturer at the Institute of Development and Technology Management, Cape Coast (Affiliated to the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology). He teaches Entrepreneurship and Development and Science and Technology for Development.

He worked as Operations Manager (Administration/Human Resource) for the Catholic Relief Services/Ghana (CRS) in 2001 – 2006 and Deputy Manager in charge of Human Resources, Consulting for KPMG, Ghana. In 1998-1999, he worked as Human Resources, Consultant at the State Enterprises Commission/Ghana.   Other employment histories include the following: Mathematics Teacher, Ghana Education Service in 1993 -1996; Director, Tema BOSS Foundation in 1991- 1993 where he trained young people within the urban community in leadership and entrepreneurial skills and a Field/Research Officer for Agricultural and Rural Development Services (CARDS) in 1989 – 1991.

Mr. Anuwa-Amarh has served on several boards and panels, including the Ghanaian Panel on Economic Development (GIPED - 2012 to date). He is also chair of the Canoe Fishermen Association project committee of Tema (2012 to Date).  He was the co-chair of the Coalition on Human Rights in Oil and Gas in 2009 -2011. He was the executive director of the Corporate Social Responisbilty Movement in 2007-2010. His international experience includes short term post with the Catholic Relief Services in Malawi, Afghanistan, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Gambia.

He has consulted for public and private sector institutions including Ghana’s Ministry of Transport; Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing; Care International Ghana; International Needs/Ghana; World Vision International/Ghana and International Water Management Institute.

His research works include: (a) “Financial Challenges Facing Urban SMEs under Financial Sector Liberalization in Ghana” with N. Tagoe and E. Nyarko. (Ed) Journal of Small Business Management, July 2005, Vol. 43 Issue 3, p331, sponsored by the ILO; and (b) “SME Access to Bank Finance in an Emerging Economy: The Role of Information Management Practices”, with N. Tagoe and E. Nyarko. (Ed) International Journal of Financial Services Management (IJFSM), Vol. 3, No. 2, 2008; (c) “Understanding the Urban Informal Economy in Ghana: A Survey Report, 2015” (unpublished).

Prof. Seth O. Asiama - Ashanti Region

Prof. Seth Opuni Asiama is an accomplished teacher, researcher and administrator  with Ghanaian and international experience. He is a Land Economist and Land Management Specialist and currently lectures at the Department of Land Economy, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). He is also the Director of the Centre for Property Investment in Kumasi.

Prof. Asiama served as Provost for the College of Architecture and Planning, KNUST between 2004 and 2010. At KNUST he also served as the Director (Dean) of the Institute of Land Management and Development where he introduced a two-year Master of Philosophy degree in Land Management.

In 1983-1984, he served as PNDC Deputy Secretary for Education with special responsibility for higher education. He also had ministerial responsibility for the National Service Secretariat, the Encyclopaedia Africana Project, the Ghana Academy of Arts and Science and the Scholarships Secretariat.

His achievements include the establishment of inter-governmental cooperation on higher education with the governments of North Korea, the German Democratic Republic and the USSR; and assisting the Seventh Day Adventist Church to establish the first private university in the country – Valley View College. He was also part of the KNUST delegation to the UK in 2004 that set up the KNUST Alumni Association of the UK. He has served as the General Secretary (2000 – 2004) and National President (2004 – 2008) of the Alumni Association of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.

Prof. Asiama has been on numerous occasions an external examiner for the Department of Land Management and Valuation, in the ARDHI University in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. He has also worked as an international  consultant  on land tenure for the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the Right to Food Programme, and the World Bank for the Agricultural Sector Review Programme of Sierra Leone.

In 1993-94, Prof. Asiama was a Land Management Consultant to the governments of Namibia and Sierra Leone. In 1994-95, he was a member of the Africa Regional Panel of Experts in Urban Land Management of the Urban Management Programme, United Nations Centre for Human Settlements (HABITAT), Nairobi. In 1988-89, he was a member of the Advisory Board of the International Committee on Housing and the Built Environment, the International Sociological Association, USA.

He is currently the Chairman of the National Peace Council, Ashanti Region. He has been a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission since 2010 and also a member of the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC) Ashanti Region. He holds a PhD in Urban and Regional Studies from the University of Birmingham, UK and a BSc. in Land Economy from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana. He is a Fellow of the Ghana Institution of Surveyors.

Dr. Ato Quarshie - Central Region

Dr. Ato Quarshie is a development economist and a former Minister of Roads and Highways in the Rawlings Administration. He is currently NDPC’s Commissioner for the Central Region where from 1992 to 1993, he served as Regional Minister. He was also Deputy Secretary for Agriculture in charge of the Eastern Region, a member of the Cross-Sectoral Planning Group for economic development, and chairman of the sub-committee for production and technology during the the PNDC era.

He has consulted in areas related to agricultural development, roads and transport infrastructure, rural development and the hotels sector. He has taught  development economics, rural development, cooperative studies and economic geography at the Professional School of Business Studies in Nuertingen, West Germany.

Between 1993 and 2004, Dr. Quarshie was the Member of Parliament for Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abirem. He has worked as an Assistant Director and a Regional Agricultural Economist for both the special marketing unit of the Office of the Supreme Military Council and the Ministry of Agriculture. In both capacities, he was responsible for the identification of food surplus areas in Ghana and the organisation of market structures for food surplus evacuation and sale; and the collection and collation of agricultural production data for policy planning purposes and economic and farm management extension work respectively.

Dr. Quarshie’s professional background includes extensive international experience in research and marketing planning. Between 1970 and 1971, he conducted statistics and marketing planning for the Wuerttembergische Agricultural Cooperatives in Stuttgart where he worked closely with all rural institutions for agriculture in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg, West Germany. He has also worked as a practical agriculturist for the Agricultural Research Station in Aulendorf, West Germany

Since 1979, Dr. Quarshie has delivered lectures and organised symposia and seminars in development-related subjects for unions, cooperatives and non-governmental organisations in West Germany.

He holds a PhD in development economics, economic history and comparative economic policies and a Masters degree in agricultural economics from the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart,West Germany. He also holds a BSc in agricultural science from the Fachhochschule Nuertingen,West Germany.

He is a life patron of the Ghana Voluntary Workcamps Association.

Mr Joseph D. Kobinah - Western Region

Mr. Joseph Rex Kobina holds a Technical Teachers Certifcate from the Advance Technical Teachers College, Kumasi. In 1993-2001, he served as District Chief Executive for the Nzema East District Assembly. He has also worked as an accounting teacher at the Nkroful Agricultural Secondary School in the Western Region.

Beyond Ghana, Mt. Kobina has also  taught at the Ifewara High School in Nigeria. He worked as an Assistant Accountant for the State Hotels Corporation, and as a member of the national Consultative Assembly between 1991 and 1993. Mr. Kobina was also Presiding Member of the Nzema East District Assembly from 1991 to 1993.

Mr Ntim-Adjei Jacob Buabeng - Brong Ahafo Region

Mr. Ntim Adjei Jacob Buabeng is an educationist with over 25 years’ experience. He is currently the Commissioner representing the Brong Ahafo Region at the National Development Planning Commission.

Mr. Buabeng’s career experience as an educationist covers both basic and senior school levels  and he has served as a deputy director in the Ghana Education Service (GES).

He was headmaster of Gyamfi Kumani Secondary Technical School, Brong Ahafo Region between 2002 and 2010, and from 1996 to 2002, he was an assistant headmaster at Acherensua Secondary School in the same region. He has also worked as a District Second Cycle School Coordinator. He was adjudged best teacher at Senior Secondary School level in the Asutifi District and 2^nd Best Brong Ahafo Senior Secondary School teacher award in 1995.

Between 1993 and 1997 Mr. Buabeng was an elected member of the Asutifi District Assembly. Since 2008, he has been a board member of the Newmont Ahafo Development Foundation (NADeF).  He is also a member of the Ghana National Association of Teachers where he has held various positions both at district and regional levels.

Mr. Buabeng holds a BA. (Hons) in history from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Mr. George D. Abdul - Eastern Region

Mr. George Daramuna Abdul is a public works and housing superindtendent by profession. Prior to being appointed as a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC), he was on retirement, having served as Chief Works Superintendent (Regional Director) for the Department of Rural Housing and Cottage Industries in the Eastern Region. He has overseen several housing reconstruction projects, including the reconstruction and rehabilitation of houses destroyed after the conflict in the Northern Region of Ghana. He has also provided consulting services as team head on key tourist recreational centre projects, including “the Biggest Tree in West Africa” project; the Tetteh Quarshie first original cocoa farm in Mampong, Akuapem; and the paragliding site in  Kwahu District. He taught in the Islamic Secondary School in Kumasi in 1967-1969.

Mr. Abdul holds a City and Guilds Certificate from the Guilds institute, London, a Construction Technicians Certificate, and an Associated Examining Board Certificate in Mathematics. He also graduated from the Takoradi Polytechnic Institute, Western Region.

Mr. Abdul is a member of the Intermediate Technology Transfer Unit (ITTU) (GRATIS) in Koforidua , Eastern Region; the Unit School for the Deaf, Koforidua, Eastern Region; and serves on the Board of Governors of Koforidua Secondary Technical School. He has continued to serve as a member of the New Juaben Municipal Assembly since 1987.

He has participated in several workshops on decentralisation and attended several housing seminars as Regional Director in the Eastern Region, a posistion he occupied for 27 years. 

Prof. Seidu Al-hassan - Northern Region

Professor Seidu Al-hassan is an economist and educationist. He joined  the University for Development Studies (UDS) in 1996 as a lecturer and  he is currently a Director at the Institute for Continuing Education and Interdisciplinary Research.

Prof. Al-hassan has over 15 years of experience in the design of civic education programmes, data collection and analyisis, and project management. He has trained staff of over 20 civil society organisations on civic education programmes and research methodology with an emphasis on data collection and data analysis, and in broad areas covering empowerment, conflict management, environmental protection, democracy, gender, social accountabiity, microfinance and renewable energy. He also has attained over 16 years’ consultancy experience in the areas of policy impact, poverty, women’s empowerment, value chain development, agicultural productivity, marketing and advocacy.

Between August 2003 and May 2004, he was a visiting scholar at the North Carolina State University (NCSU) in Raleigh, USA, on the University of Ghana’s Exchange Programme.

Prof. Al-hassan has received a number of Fellowships, including the African Economic Researh Consortium/Journal of African Economies Fellowship and the University of Ghana Fellowship. He has also contributed to and positively influenced several research publications and has presented several conference papers at regional level. In 2005, he participated in a key research study on economic growth in northern Ghana conducted by the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), UK. He has also attended several local and international workshops and conferences.

He is co-author of  Women Sheabutter Entrepreneurs: Capacity Assessment Approach published by Lambart Publishers in Germany.

He was a member of UDS Governing Council between 2006 and 2012. He is a member of UDS Academic Board,  the Finance Committee and the Executive Planning and development committees. He also represents UDS on the Stakeholder Coordinating Committee of the Savannah Accelerated Develoment Authority (SADA). Prof. Al-hassan is also the coordinator of UDS Mentoring Programme.

Prof. Al-hassan is a member of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) and the Ghana Agricultural Science Students Association. He holds a PhD in agricultural economics and an MPhil in economics from the University of Ghana. He also holds a BA in economics and a diploma in education from the University of Cape Coast.

Amb. Donald A. Adabre - Upper East Region

Ambassador Donald Adabere Adabre is a politician, agriculturist and an administrator. He holds a certificate in resource management  in agriculture from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and a certificate in ruminant production in the tropics from the Insitute of Animal Production of the Technical University, Berlin, Germany. He also holds a diploma in agriculture from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. 

Ambassador Adabre currently serves as chairman of the Governing Council of Bolgatanga Polytechnic and of the Upper East Red Cross Society. He has served on a number of national boards, including the National Festival for Arts and Culture Planning Committee and Ghana’s Consultative Assembly.

He has also held high-level public office positions, including serving as Ghana’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to the Republic of Mali from November 2009 to October 2013. He was Regional Minister for Brong Ahafo Region from December 1998 to January 2001, and Upper East Regional Minister in 1997-1998. In 1993, he served as Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He worked at  the Ministry of Food and Agriculture for 19 years in various capacities.

Dr. Emmanuel K. Derbile - Upper West Region

Dr. Emmanuel Kanchebe Derbile is currently the Dean of the Faculty of Planning and Land Management at the University of Development Studies (UDS). Prior to his appointment in September 2014, he had been Vice-Dean in the same faculty since 2012. He was also a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Planning and Management at UDS.

He is a development consultant with over 11 years’ experience. His areas of expertise include academic and professional training (particularly in local economic development and planning); and vulnerability and disaster risk management. He has a keen interest in research and has more than 10 scientific research publications to his credit.

Dr. Derbile holds a PhD in development studies from the University of Bonn, Germany, an MSc in development planning and management from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and a BA in integrated development studies from the University for Development Studies, Ghana. Other professional certifications include a certificate in management of development organisations from St. Francis Xavier University, Canada.

Dr. Edith Tetteh - Volta Region

Dr. Edith Tetteh is currently the Director of Research at the Centre for Health and Social Services (CHeSS). She represents the Volta Region as a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) and has over 30 years of experience in public health and development communication. She is also a part-time faculty member of the School of Public Health College of Health Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon.

Dr. Tetteh in the past served as Vice-Chairperson of the Commission. Between 2004 and 2006,  she was a capacity-building team leader with USAID/AED/GSCP where she managed capacity-building activities at national, regional and district levels of Ghana’s health care delivery system in support of reproductive and child health, and HIV/AIDs prevention, care and support. She has also been a faculty member of the University of Ghana Medical School Department of Community Health.

Her professional experience includes  project coordinator roles with the Ghana Cleft Lip and Palate Management Project, between 2003 and 2006. She has published widely and consulted on numerous Public Helath assignments for projects funded by UNICEF, UNFPA, WHO, USAID, DFID, Plan Ghana and World Vision Ghana – Dutch Collaboration for Health Research and Development.

Dr. Tetteh has a background in Sociology with a Masters in public health from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD in public health sciences from the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA.

She is the co-author of a Trainer’s Notebook on Reproductive Health Curriculum for Interns and a member of the following associations:

• American Public Health Association
• Association of International Educators
• Ghana Public Health Association
• Ghana Association of Maternal and Child Health

Prof. Kwamena Ahwoi

Professor Kwamena Ahwoi is an Oxford University Rhodes Scholar.  He holds a Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) and a Bachelor of Law (LL.B.), respectively, from  Oxford University and the University of Ghana. 

A lecturer at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ghana, Legon, before joining the government of the Provisional National Defence Council in 1982, Mr. Ahwoi was  PNDC Secretary (Minister) of Local Government from 1988 to 1993. He was a member of the “Akuse Group” that prepared the PNDC’s blueprint on local government reform and decentralization in 1987.

He later directed, supervised and chaired the Inter-Ministerial Task Force that prepared the first major legislation on decentralization, the Local Government Law of 1988, PNDCL 207. He also made substantial inputs into the work of the Committee of Experts (Constitution) and the Consultative Assembly whose respective work culminated in Chapter 20 (Decentralization and Local Government) of Ghana’s 1992 Constitution..

As Minister of Local Government, he piloted through Parliament the Local Government Act of 1993, Act 462, as well as the other major legislation on decentralization and local government. As local government minister, he signed into existence the Legislative Instruments establishing Ghana’s initial 110 Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies in 1988/89.

In 1997/98, Prof. Ahwoi held the local government and foreign affairs ministerial portfolios simultaneously. He has considerable international experience in the area of local government and decentralization. He was a longstanding member of the Commonwealth Local Government Forum (CLGF) based in London, UK. He was president of the Afro-Asian Rural Reconstruction Organisation (AARRO) based in New Delhi, India, and a founding member of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) based at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London. He has addressed conferences of the United Nations, the International Union of Local Authorities, the European Parliament, HABITAT and AFROCITIES and participated in scores of international conferences, seminars, workshops and roundtables on local government and decentralization and advised on decentralization programmes in several African countries.

As a legal academic, Prof. Ahwoi’s passion is jurisprudence. His 1978 article on “Kelsen, the Grundnorm and the 1979 Constitution” published in the University of Ghana Law Journal, is still compulsory reading in the course on the pure theory of law” at the University of Ghana Law Faculty. At GIMPA, where he is currently a professor of governance, he has written and published extensively on local government and decentralization, culminating in his book on Local Government and Decentralization in Ghana, published by Unimax Macmillan in 2010, which has become the leading work on the subject in Ghana.

Mr. Kwame Peprah

Mr. Peprah completed Achimota School in Accra and was later awarded a scholarship to study at Columbia University in New York, USA, where he obtained a Bachelor’s degree in electrical and electronics engineering in 1971. He then obtained an MBA (Finance) from New York University in 1974, while working as an industrial engineer with the Clairol Inc. subsidiary of Bristol-Myers in Stanford, Connecticut, USA.

On returning to Ghana in 1976, he joined the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI) as a consultant in industrial engineering, rising to the position of Deputy Director (Technical) in 1980. Among the highlights of his time at MDPI was a secondment to manage the then TATA Brewery where he lead the team to turn around and rebrand the brewery as Achimota Brewery Company (ABC).

In early 1982, he joined the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) government, first as an advisor, then as a Deputy Secretary of Transport and Communications. From 1984 to January 2001, he served as PNDC Secretary (equivalent to Minister) in several portfolios, namely Transport and Communications, Lands and Natural Resources, Mines and Energy, and finally Finance.

He has chaired many boards in both the private and public sectors. Notable in the private sector was his chairmanship of Ashanti Goldfields Corporation where he led the board in taking the company public, making it the first in sub-Saharan Africa to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

In the public sector, he is the immediate past chairman of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) and has been a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC) since 2009.

Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa

Prof. Agyeman Badu Akosa is a medical doctor, pathologist, academic, leader, researcher, social commentator, politician, writer and a “functional engineer”.  He is the Chairman of the Executive Board of the African Population Health Research Centre, Nairobi, Kenya,  serves on the Board of Governors of the ENSIGN – College of Public Health and is the Executive Director of Healthy Ghana.

He previously served in the following roles:

• Board member of the Ghana Prisons Service
• Chairman of the Board of Ghana Healthcare Ltd
• Chairman of the Board, Trust Hospital, Ghana
• Chairman of the Tobacco Control Task Force in Ghana
• Consultant Histopathologist and Clinical Director of Pathology in the UK
• Director-General of the Ghana Health Service
• Presidents of the Ghana Medical Association and the Commonwealth Medical Association
• President of the Ghana Skin Foundation
• Professor and Head, Department of Pathology, University of Ghana Medical School
• Member of the WHO Task Force on Immunisation in Africa

Prof. Akosa is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (FGA), Ghana Medical Association (FGMA), Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), West African College of Physicians (FWACP) and the Ghana College of Physicians (FGCP). He is also a recipient of Ghana’s second highest award, Companion of the Order of the Volta (CV), for public service and to the health sector.

Prof. Akosa has serval publications to his credit in the field of pathology. He also has special interest in autopsy as an epidemiological tool, dermatopathology, health economics and health systems mangement. He has also published many feature articles in Ghana’s leading newspaper, the Daily Graphic. He is Ghana’s foremost advocate on healthy lifestyle and malnutrition.

Dr. Fritz Gockel

Fritz A. Gockel, former head and lecturer, Department of Economics, University of Ghana, holds a PhD from the University of Manchester, United Kingdom. He is currently a member of the Advisory Panel of Africa Means Business of the Thomson Media Foundation funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to build the capacity of African media to report on economic and related issues. He is a director of the Bank of Ghana; member, Council of the Centre for Economic Policy Analysis (CEPA); member, International Growth Centre to research into African economic issues; Commissioner, National Development Planning Commission; and external examiner at the University of Cape Coast.  Dr. Gockel was also chairman of Ghana’s largest home-grown bank, Ghana Commercial Bank; and a visiting lecturer in monetary theory and practice, at the Joint Facility for Electives in the Collaborative Masters Programme for Anglophone Africa, under the auspices of the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC), Nairobi, Kenya. He was also a member of the PhD Academic Committee of the AERC.  Dr. Gockel was chief examiner for GCE A/Level economics, West African Examinations Council.

Dr. Gockel has published several articles and books on key economic issues, especially on economic reforms in Ghana. He has worked closely with the Bank of Ghana and Ministry of Finance on financial sector reforms and on important economic issues such as exchange rate and trade competitiveness, interest rate spread, monetary policy direction, fiscal impact on macroeconomic variables and revenue forecasting. He was one of three Ghanaian consultants for USAID who put together Ghana’s blueprint for financial sector reforms, the Financial Sector Strategic Plan (FINSSP). He also worked with USAID to provide the policy framework for the establishment of the Venture Capital Trust. His research publications have similarly informed a significant part of Ghana’s financial sector reforms. A policy reform which was instigated by his research activities is pension reform, following his examination of the performance of SSNIT for the Ghana Trades Union Congress and Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT).

He has considerable experience in economic policy analysis, working with institutions such as the World Bank, DFID, USAID, ILO, UNECA, UNDP and Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.  Dr. Gockel was also a consultant to the Central Bank of Nigeria/DFID to assess the preparedness of the members of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ) to launch the common currency (ECO) in June 2005. Subsequently, he was one of the economists whose studies informed the members of WAMZ not to rush the process since the convergence criteria were not met.

Dr. Gockel has also worked with the Ministry of Trade and Industry on various policy reforms, one of which was the development of an Effective Rate of Tariff Protection Methodology and Template for the rationalisation of tariffs to enhance Ghana’s industrial competitiveness.

He led the policy team of USAID/SIGMAONE to establish the National Labour Commission along the lines of the United States Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services Commission (FMCS) to ensure labour practices in Ghana reflect international best practices. Subsequently, he worked with the National Labour Commission to educate stakeholders on labour market importance, and how the labour market needs to be reformed to enhance Ghana’s overall competitiveness. He has reviewed minimum wage issues with the National Tripartite Committee and explained the implications of low-wage, high-cost labour for employment trends and Ghana’s competitiveness.

He worked with the NDPC to craft various medium-term development frameworks including a review of the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS I) and drawing up the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS II). He also crafted the macroeconomic and industry development sections of the draft 10-Year Development Plan (2008).

Dr. Gockel has participated in and presented papers at several national and international conferences. He has also organized workshops and presented papers for bodies such as the Private Enterprise Foundation and the Association of Ghana Industries on the direction of the economy, inflation, and sources of growth in GDP. He has prepared background papers for the National Economic Dialogue in public-private partnership consensus building on economic policies to promote private sector development.

Mr. Steve Akuffo

Mr. Steve Akuffo is an architect and has been a Commissioner of the National Development Planning Commission since 2009. He  was Deputy Secretary (Minister) for Works and Housing in 1983-1987.

He is a founding partner of Akuffo & Associates and an AutoCAD expert who has extensively applied his architectural background and technolgical design skills to a number of physical infrastructure projects such as the SICFSL Multipurpose Office Complex, Ridge; Prototype District Assembly offices for the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development; Tamale Airport rehabilitation; hangars for Kotoka International Airport; and the new Visa Section of the British High Commission in Accra.

From 1987 to 1996, Mr. Akuffo was a partner at Plan Architects and worked on projects such as the rehabilitation and remodelling of offices for Ashanti Goldfields,  the National Insurance Commmission, and Volta Hotel.

In 1982, he was an associate member of the Ghana Institute of Architects (GIA) and in 2002,  he became a fellow of the GIA. He is a past president of the GIA and was also an external examiner at the Department of Architecture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).  

Mr. Akuffo holds a BSc. (Design) and Post-Graduate Diploma in architecture from the KNUST. He is currently a Council Member of the Architects Registration Council. He has participated in several local, regional and international conferences, workshops and seminars including the Passenger Terminal EXPO2001 held in France, and a conference on solar-assisted air conditioning systems in Germany. From 2009 to 2014, he served as board chariman of the State Housing Company. He is currently chairman of the Entity Tender Committee of the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing.

Mr. Charles Abugre

Mr. Charles Akelyira Abugre is the current Chief Executive Officer of the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA). Prior to this, he was the Africa Regional Director of the United Nations Millenium Campaign, based  in Nairobi, Kenya.

In the past, Mr. Abugre worked as Head of the Global Advocacy and Policy Division at Christian Aid, UK, and was responsible for the management of over 100 research and policy professionals across five continents. He previously  worked as a founder and Coordinator  of Third World Network – Africa and simultaneously as Executive Director of the Integrated Social Development Network (ISODEC) for 10 years.

He has also led organisational change processes and been involved with local government reforms for various international and local organisations. He has led  several  multi-disciplinary specialist teams in a variety of fields including  trade and industrial policy, artisanal mining, illicit financial flows; inequality and revenue allocation; and structural adjustment programmes both locally and internationally. Mr abugre was an advisor to the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia on the Ethiopian eeconomic transformation agenda.

From 2002 to 2004, Mr. Abugre was a lecturer and research fellow at the Centre for Development Studies, University of Swansea, Wales, and  a summer course lecturer at the Economics Department, Utah University, USA.

He has to his credit several publications and research papers in the area of poverty reduction and social and economic development. He is also a co-founder of the World Economics Forum – a global grouping of heterodox economists, and an active member of the International Development Economics Associates, headquartered at the Delhi University, India. Mr Abugre also currently Chairs the Technical Committee of the “Tana Forum”, a pan-African Peace and Security gathering and research eneity based in addis Ababa.

Mr. Abugre holds an MA in development studies from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague, and a BA (Hons.) in economics and geography from the University of Ghana, Legon.

Prof. David Millar

Professor David Millar  is the  Vice-Chancellor/Rector of Millar Institute for Transdisciplinary and Development Studies, Millar Open University. He was Pro-Vice Chancellor of the University for Development Studies  from  2008 to 2012. Prof Millar previously served as  Dean for Research and Postgraduate Programmes, and Dean for the Centre for Interdisciplinary Research at the University for Development Studies.  He has extensive experience as lecturer at tertiary level and worked as Visiting Professor at the Centre for Development Studies, University of Cape Coast, and at Vaal University of Technology, South Africa.

Between 1999 and 2002, Prof. Millar was project coordinator for the Savannah Resource Management Project of the World Bank (IDA, GEF, and DANIDA). Currently, he is an external examiner at the Department of Agriculture Extension, University of Ghana, Legon, and the Ghandigram University, India.

He holds a PhD in agricultural and environmental sciences, an MSc. in management of agricultural knowledge systems from the Wageningen Agricultural University, Netherlands, and a BSc in animal science from the University of Ghana. He is also a post-graduate certficate holder in rural extension (ICRE) and farming systems research (ICRA) from the International Agricultural Centre, Netherlands.

Prof. Millar is a member of several local and international societies, including the Indigenous Knowledge Networks (IKN), Warren and Associates, USA; the International Management Committee, COMPAS of ETC Foundation of the Netherlands; and the Ecumenical Association for Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development (ECASARD), Ghana. He is a board member of WATERAID International, Ghana. In 2011, he was the Commonwealth Focal Person for Ghana for Indigenous People and Local Communities. The Indigenous Knowledge Group at the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, conferred on him the title Chief Balogun Alatunto. He has several academic works to his credit that focus on agriculture in Ghana, and has contributed to several international, regional and national publications on agricultural research.

Dr. Dzodzi Tsikata

Dzodzi Tsikata is an Associate Research Professor at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana, Legon. She was Deputy Director (2005-2009) and Director (2010-2012) at the Centre for Gender Studies and Advocacy (CEGENSA) at the same university, responsible for intellectual and administrative management, and coordinating the design and teaching of foundation courses in gender. Between 2002 and 2010, Prof. Tsikata was a Senior Research Fellow at ISSER. Her career with ISSER began in 1991 as a Junior Research Fellow. She subsequently became a Research Fellow in 1996 until 2002.

Between 2003 and 2012, she taught gender and development courses at Masters level. She currently teaches the advanced gender studies course in the Ph.D programme in Deveopment Studies at ISSER. Her research interests are in the areas of gender and development policies and practices, land tenure systems and agrarian livelihood systems, commercial land deals and their livelihood impacts; the politics of land tenure reforms and informal labour relations and  conditions of work in Ghana.

She has been editor, co-editor and author of several books and special issues of  journals and numerous journal articles, book chapters and technical papers. Her most recent publications include a co-guest edited (with Cheryl Doss and Gale Summerfield) special issue of Feminist Economics on “Land, Gender and Food Security” (2014), a co-edited book (with Cheryl Rodriguez and Akosua Adomako Ampofo), “Trans-Atlantic Feminisms: Women and Gender Studies in Africa and the Diaspora” published by Lexington Books (2015) and a co-edited book (with Ruth Hall and Ian Scoones), “Africa’s Land Rush: Implications for Rural Livelihoods and Agrarian Change”, published by Boydell and Brewer Ltd (2015). She is on the editorial advisory board of several academic journals, including Feminist Africa, Journal of Peasant Studies and the Canadian Journal of Development Studies and a member of the editorial collective of Agrarian South: Journal of Political Economy.

Prof. Tsikata has delivered several keynote speeches and public lectures both locally and internationally and was a Visiting Fellow at the Africa Studies Centre at Leiden University (2002) and an O’Brien Fellow in Residence at the Centre for Human Rights and Legal Pluralism at the Law Faculty of McGill University in Canada (2014). She has also consulted on several projects and is the author of the Africa Report of Regional Studies on National Mechanisms for Gender Equality, a sudy report commissioned by United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women and coordinated by the UN Economic Commission for Africa as part of the Beijing plus 15 Review of the Implementation of the Platform for Action.

Prof. Tsikata is President of the Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) and a member of the United Nations Committee for Development Policy (CDP). She is board member of the College of Humanities and the Academic Board of the University of Ghana. She is also a board member of several local and international organisations including Third World Network – Africa, the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) and the International Association for Feminist Economics (IAFFE).

She holds a PhD (cum laude) in Social Science from Leiden University, and an MA in development studies from the Institute of Socal Studies (ISS), both in the Netherlands. She also holds an MPhil in Sociology and an LLB (Hons) in Law from the University of Ghana, Legon. In 1986, she was called to the Ghana Bar.

Nana Oye Mansa

Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa is the Dompiahene of Akuapem and a member of the Akuapem Traditional Council. She was trained in economics, public finance and business management at the University College of Ghana as an external student of the University of London from 1959 to 1962. She participated at postgraduate level in various courses including public finance at the IMF Institute, USA (1975); “Planning Public Expenditures” at the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) at Sussex University, UK (1982); “Changing the Rules of the Game – Financial Sector Liberalization and Regulation of Financial Markets” at the Harvard Institute for International Development, USA (1990); and a Certificate Course for “Leaders in Development” from the Harvard Institute for international Development, USA (1996).

She also worked for 11 years with the Ghana Commercial Bank and 16 years with the Bank of Ghana where she rose to become a Deputy Governor from 1990 to1997.  As first Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, she worked at the changes from the (fiat economy) to the liberalised regulatory framework i.e. open market operations and banking supervision.

Between 1982 and 1989, she worked as Deputy Secretary (Minister) for both the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning and the Ministry of Fuel and Power (now Ministry of Energy) in Ghana, where she was involved in negotiations with the IMF and the World Bank on the economic reforms and electrification projects of the 1980s.

As a member of the SSNIT Board from 1993 to 1997, she chaired the Mokola Market Company that modernised the Mokola No 1 Market and constructed its extension at Agbobloshie for the displaced women who could not afford the new rates at the old (reshaped) site.

In 1995, she attended the United Nations Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing and chaired one of the two working groups that resolved the brackets on the Beijing Platform for Action, the official document of the conference. She was later appointed Ambassador to Belgium and Luxemburg, and Head of Mission to the European Union between April 1998 and March 2001. As Head of Mission to EU, was assigned by the ACP Group as Chief Negotiating Spokesperson for Development Finance Co-operation under the ACP-EU negotiations towards the Cotonou Accord signed in year 2000.

Nana Oye Mansa Yeboaa currently chairs the Ghana Women Fund which wholesales credit to women’s groups through the rural banks in Ghana. She also is the 2^nd Trustee of the Mmoborohunu Trust – set up to look after needy patients at the Medical Block at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital.

In 2005, she was a juror for the first Ghana Development Marketplace (GDM) under the World Bank office in Ghana which provided a competitive forum for the marketing of innovative ideas from Ghanaian small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and NGOs with the aim of creating jobs and reducing poverty.

She initiated the Akuapem Community Foundation along with other public spirited Akuapems that looks out for the betterment of quality of life in all its aspects, but with emphasis on education, in Akuapem Traditional Area and beyond. She has in the past consulted internationally, regionally and nationally. Her consulting experience includes the design of an Anti-Corruption Agency in Bayelsa State of Nigeria under the Bayelsa Partnership Initiative- Delta State, Nigeria.

She was a member of the Board of Trustess of the Endowment Fund set up by the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and member of the Governing Council of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA). She is also a member of the Tabon (Brazilian Community) Traditional Authority. In 2011 she was a vice-president of the Council of Women Traditional Leaders, Ghana. In November 2012, she was selected as one of the “Truly Inspirational African Women” by the Resource Alliance at the IWRM International Workshop on Resource Mobilization held in Kampala, Uganda. In 2014, she was appointed as a member of the Presidential Advisory Group on Economy (PAGE).

Dr. Nii Noi Ashong

Dr. Samuel Nii-Noi Ashong was Minister of State for Economic Planning in 2003-2005. He has worked as a Core Research Fellow for the Centre for Policy Analysis (CEPA) and as a research consultant for the World Bank in the area of economic policy. His background is in economics and marketing operations. He has been a forecasting and demand analyst and worked for AT&T Consumer Communications Services (USA) in various managerial positions from 1988 to 1995.

In 2011-2014, Dr. Ashong was Deputy Rector of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) and is currently a principal lecturer there. He has been an Adjunct Lecturer in the Department of Economics, University of Ghana, Legon, where he taught public policy and global finance as well as international trade and finance to students pursuing a Masters degree in economic policy management.

He was a Visiting Professor in 1992-1994 for the National Urban League Inc. (USA). He was a research assistant and tutor at Boston University (USA), and a research assistant at Queens University (Canada). He has also worked on a number of special programmes, including as lead analyst for a consultancy project on capacity development in Ghana.

Dr. Ashong holds a PhD in economics from Boston University, an MA in economics from Queens University and a BA in economics with statistics from the University of Ghana, Legon. For three consecutive years (1992-1994), he received Recognition of Service Awards as Visiting Professor in the Black Executive Exchange Programme (National Urban League, Inc. USA) and in 1993, AT&T awarded him a Hall of Excellence Recognition Award for Outstanding Contributions to Consumer Communication Services. He serves as a member of the Ministerial Advisory Board of the Ministry of Finace and is a member of the Technical Committee for the Public Utilities and Regulatory Commission (PURC) of Ghana. He has served on several other boards both in the private and public sector.

Dr. Ashong has more than 10 publications in the area of macroeconomics, taxation and national development to his credit.

Mr Kwame Jantuah

Mr. Kwame Jantuah is the Chief Executive Officer of the African Energy Consortium Limited and also the Executive Director of Peace Petroleum Limited. He currently provides support to the Liberian government and House of Representatives on issues of oil and gas governance. on.

Mr. Jantuah consults on energy sector-related issues. Between 2010 and 2011, he was involved in the drafting of Ghana’s Local Content Strategy for the government of Ghana. Specifically, he was lead Ghanaian partner with Association of Carribean Energy Specialists (ACES International).

In 2010, Mr. Jantuah served as vice-chair of the Civil Society Platform on Oil and Gas in Ghana, focusing on providing support to parliamentarians and Ghanaian citizens to raise awareness and understanding of the implications of key legislation, namely, the Petroleum Revenue Management Bill (now Petroleum Revenue Management Act 815, 2011); the Petroleum Commission Bill (now Act 821, 2011); and the Local Content Bill proposed for governance of the oil and gas sector. In 2012, he consulted internationally for Oxfam America, designing a Medium-Term Strategic Plan for the Oil and Gas Platform in Ghana.

Mr. Jantuah has publications on petroleum and the energy sector. He has also made several presentations focusing on the energy sector. Notable among them are “Tracking Transparency and Accountability in the Oil and Gas Industry in the Gulf of Guinea” and “Meeting Ghana’s Economic Challenge in the 21^st Century with the advent of Oil and Gas,” which he delivered in 2012 in Equatorial Guinea and Accra respectively.

Mr. Jantuah holds an LLB in Law from Thames University and an HND in Business and Finance from South East London College, both in the United Kingdom.