Ken Ofori Atta: All You Need to Know

Kenneth Ofori-Atta, a Ghanaian economist and investment banker who co-founded Databank in Ghana, was born in 1959. He now holds the position of Minister of Finance. The President of the Republic, Nana Akufo-Addo, appointed him on January 10, 2017, and he took up his position on January 27, 2017.

Ken was born in the little village of Kibi, which is located in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He is a member of the renowned Ofori-Atta family of Ghana, which has held positions of prominence in politics, law, chieftaincy, and business across the country.

Ken Ofori Atta

Ofori-Atta attended Achimota School for his O-Level and A-Level certificates, which he got in 1976 and 1978, respectively. Following his A-level at Achimota, he worked as a temporary mathematics teacher at the Accra Academy for a short period of time after graduating.

Ofori-Atta began studying for a bachelor’s degree in economics at Columbia University in August 1980. He received his bachelor’s degree from Columbia in 1984 and began working at Morgan Stanley in New York. In 1988, he completed his MBA at the Yale University School of Management and began working for Salomon Brothers, a financial services company in New York City.

Among his many accomplishments, Ofori-Atta co-founded Databank Financial Services in 1990 alongside Keli Gadzekpo and Togbe Afede XIV, and he served as its executive chairman until his retirement on February 14, 2012. In addition to insurance, he has a wide range of business interests in retail banking, private equity, microfinance, pharmaceuticals, and real estate, among other things.

In 1996, Ofori-Atta became the first African to speak before the Ways and Means Committee of the United States Congress in favour of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.

Ofori-Atta served on the boards of directors for a number of enterprises, as well as the boards of directors for a number of other organizations. He served on the boards of directors for Enterprise Group Ltd. and Trust Bank Ltd. of The Gambia, both of which he currently chairs. His other positions include those of director at the International Bank and member of the Acumen Fund’s governing board.

Ofori-Atta was chosen by President Nana Akufo-Addo to look at the state of the economy in Ghana after the 2016 elections.

When President Akufo-Addo announced his cabinet in May 2017, he included Ken Ofori-Atta as one of the nineteen ministers that would make up his administration. The names of the 19 ministers were presented to the Ghanaian Parliament and were revealed by the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Ocquaye.

Having been appointed as a cabinet minister, Ken Ofori-Atta is a crucial member of the president of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo’s circle, and his role will be to assist in the country’s most important decision-making processes.

At the 2018 spring meetings, Ofori-Atta was chosen as Chair of the World Bank/IMF Development Committee. She also serves as Chair of the Governing Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation, which she founded (ACBF). Additionally, he serves as the Chair of the African Caucus at the World Bank.

Awards received

Ofori-Atta is a Henry Crown fellow at the Aspen Institute, where he has worked for over a decade. He was ranked as the second most regarded chief executive officer in Ghana.

Ken was named a Donaldson Fellow at Yale University in 2010 and received the John Jay Award from Columbia University in 2011. He is also a recipient of the John Jay Award from Columbia University in 2011. He is a fellow of the Aspen Africa Leadership Initiative, which he helped to establish.

PriceWaterHouse Ghana has named him twice as one of the Top 5 Most Respected CEOs in Ghana, and he has received this accolade twice.

The Banker, a London-based publication, named him the Best African Finance Minister of the Year in May of this year.

Marriage

Ofori-Atta is married to Professor Angela Lamensdorf, who is also a professor.

Ofori-Atta, a clinical psychologist at the University of Ghana Medical School, is a member of the Ghana Medical Association. The couple is the parents of four children.

Posts Held

  • Chairman of the Joint World Bank-IMF Development Committee (since 2018)
  • Ex-Officio member of the Board of Governors of the African Development Bank (AfDB). African Development Bank (since 2017)
  • An economist and ex-officio member of the Board of Governors of the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) (since 2017).
  • Ex-officio member of the Board of Governors of the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which is part of the World Bank Group (since 2017).
  • Member of the Board of Governors of the World Bank who serves as an ex-officio member (since 2017)