A boy whose mother was under pressure to abort him, today rises to become one of the brains behind salvaging the weak Ghanaian economy. He is a member of the prominent Ofori-Atta family of Ghana that has been influential in politics, law, chieftaincy, and business.
He has introduced policies that will help boost the Ghanaian economy by introducing, the famous electronic transaction tax (e-levy) that he believes will increase revenue collection domestically, without the country going for bonds and grants from international bodies to boost the Ghanaian economy.
As he delivered a speech saying, “in times such as the times we find ourselves in today, we need all hands on deck to contribute towards a sustainable recovery from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. At the end of the day, the various roles we all play ins national development culminates into what happens in the economy.”
Kenneth Nana Yaw Ofori –Atta was born on 7th November 1958 in Kyebi, the capital of the East Akim Municipal District of Ghana. The locals also call it Kibi.
He is a Ghanaian investment banker who serves as the Minister for Finance and Economic Planning in the cabinet of His Excellency Nana Akufo – Addo. He was a co-founder of Databank Group, a Ghanaian financial services company, and served as executive chairman until 2012; when he resigned. He was nominated by President Nana Akufo – Addo on 10 January 2017 and assumed office on 27 January 2017.
EDUCATION
Ofori – Atta attended Achimota school for his O –Level and A – Level certificates received in 1976 and 1978 respectively. He taught temporarily as a Mathematics teacher at the Accra Academy in the period after his A – Level at Achimota. In August 1980, Ofori –Atta was enrolled at Columbia University for a B.A. in Economics. He graduated from Columbia in 1984 and worked at Morgan Stanley in New York. He studied for and received an MBA from Yale University School of Management in 1988 and went to work for the investment bank, Salomon Brothers, and Morgan Stanley Investment Bank.
CAREER
Ken has served as the director, chairman, and board member for many prominent companies. Some International Banks (Liberia), Acumen Fund (Sub –Sahara Africa), Enterprise Group Ltd (Ghana) and, Trust Bank Ltd (Gambia).
He has more than 30 years of experience in his country’s and international financial sector, therefore the president saw him fit enough to join his inner circle. Ken’s business investments are insurance, private equity, retail banking, pharmaceuticals, microfinance, and real estate. He was the World Bank/ IMF Development Committee chair in the 2018 Spring Meetings.
Furthermore, the politician also chairs the African Caucus at the World Bank and the Governing Board of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Honourable Ofori- Atta was the first African to be honoured as a Donaldson fellow at Yale University in 2010, a John Jay fellow at Columbia University in 2011, and also a Henry Crown fellow of the Aspen Institute. He is a co-founder of the Aspen Africa Leadership Initiative.
He was also the first African to testify at the US Congress Ways and Means Committee to support the AGOA law. He was twice honoured by PriceWaterHouse Ghana as one of the top 5 Most Respected CEOs in Ghana. In May 2018, he was adjudged the best African Finance Minister of the year by London- based magazine, The Banker.
POLITICAL LIFE
Ofori – Atta was President Nana Akufo – Addo’s nominee to assess the health of the economy during the transition period after the 2016 elections. In May 2017, Akufo –Addo named Ken Ofori –Atta as part of the nineteen ministers who would form his cabinet. Ofori –Atta is an integral part of the inner circle of the president of Ghana and is to aid in the key decision-making activities in the country.
As Finance Minister Ken Ofori –Atta and his Treasury team rule out any resort to the International Monetary Fund on nationalist grounds they are taking a different set of political risks by imposing an unpopular electronic transaction tax (the E-levy) and pledges to cut state spending by up to a fifth. As Ghana exited its IMF extended credit facility back in 2019 with some fanfare.
Ken Ofori Atta might lead the country into issuing green and social bonds of up to $2 billion by November. Ghana will be the first African country to sell the debt to fund development programs if this happens. The finance minister states that the country plans to borrow up to $5 billion on international markets this year and use proceeds from these sustainable bonds to refinance debt used for social and environmental projects.
Ken has done his best to help his motherland sustain itself financially. However, a section of some Ghanaians believes that he can do better.
KEN OFORI –ATTA’S FAMILY
Ofori –Atta is married to Professor Angela Lamensdorf Ofori –Atta, a clinical psychologist at the University of Ghana medical school. The couple has four children.
