Appiah-Adu inducted into Academy of Arts and Sciences

A Professor of Strategy, Head of the Delivery Unit and Senior Advisor, Vice President’s Secretariat, Office of the President; Professor Kwaku Appiah-Adu, has been inducted as a fellow into the coveted learned society of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences (GAAS) for his scholarly prowess in the sciences and humanities of strategy.

Prof Appiah-Adu was inducted on 17 November 2020 by the President of GAAS, Supreme Court Judge Justice Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu, during the society’s 61st Founder’s Week Celebrations held in Accra on the theme: “This COVID-19 pandemic”.

The Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences was founded in 1959 on the initiative of Ghana's first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah which aimed to promote the pursuit, advancement, and dissemination of knowledge in all branches of the sciences and the humanities.

Prof Appiah-Adu was introduced during the ceremony and his profile read before he was sworn in and inducted into the Academy.

Profile of Prof Appiah-Adu

Kwaku has over 30 years of international professional experience including central governance, policy analysis, and management at the highest level of government, commercial/consultancy, and university teaching/research experience in Ghana and the UK.

His governance experience involves the coordination of government policies (public and private sector) and the monitoring and evaluation of government programmes. Kwaku has undertaken tours to study the governance systems of several countries in order to implement hybrid solutions in Ghana.

On behalf of the government, he negotiated closer ties between Ghana and various countries including Brazil, Japan, China, Korea, Thailand, and Turkey.

Currently, Kwaku plays a lead role in the development of the Government’s Integrated Digital Transformation Blueprint, serves on the working committee constituted to develop Ghana’s digital economy policy, having earlier led the organisation of Ghana’s digital roadmap conference which was aimed at making Ghana the preferred ICT innovation hub in Africa by 2023.

He coordinates Ghana’s Energy Sector Recovery Programme, chairs the AfCFTA’s Infrastructure-related Technical Working Group, is a member of Ghana’s AfCFTA National Steering Committee, and has played a key role in Ghana’s Land Reform Project.

In 2018/19, Kwaku led through Parliament the processes of birthing Ghana’s Integrated Aluminium Development Project as well as the Integrated Iron and Steel Development Project.

His exposure in the area of commerce spans management consultancy and project management. Kwaku’s consultancy responsibilities have covered e-business and corporate strategy development, public sector reform, as well as organisational and management development.

His project management experience includes contract administration, tendering, negotiating, investment appraisal, budgetary control, and the co-ordination of inter-disciplinary team functions.

Previously, Kwaku worked at the Office of the President, Ghana, where he was Head of Policy Coordination, Monitoring, and Evaluation, Chairman of the Oil and Gas Technical Committee, Director of Ghana’s Central Governance Project, member of the President’s Investors’ Advisory Council, Chairman of the National Identification Authority Board, Chairman of the President’s Special Initiative on Distance Learning, and Advisory Board member of the UN Initiative on Continental Shelf Delineation.

Kwaku was also Chairman of Ghana Hostels Ltd Board, and Member of the Entity Tender Boards of the Central Bank and Social Security & National Insurance Trust. Prior to that, he worked as a manager at PwC’s policy, strategy, and management division, and as an architect/project manager of multi-million dollar residential, retail, office, and industrial projects in the UK.

In academia, Kwaku has served as Dean of Central University Business School and lectured at the Universities of Cardiff and Portsmouth. He has researched extensively into industry analyses, corporate strategies, and product/service innovation.

Industries researched include financial services, airline, leisure, hospitality, tourism, and hi-tech. With over 100 publications in scholarly journals, he has presented papers at numerous international fora. An author of 10 books, his recently co-edited titles are: Contemporary Business Imperatives in a Developing Economy (2020); Context: Executing Strategy in a Developing Economy (2017); Key Determinants of National Development (2015); and, Governance of the Petroleum Sector in an Emerging Developing Economy (2013).

Kwaku has been elected to the ANBAR Hall of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Literature and Body of Knowledge. Kwaku is Board Chairman, Glico Pensions Trustee Ltd; Independent Director of Shell Pension Fund; Director, Vivo Energy Ghana Ltd; and Director, Switchback Developers Ltd. He has received several honours, including the President’s Crystal Awards for exceptional contribution to business environment reforms and national development.

Professor Appiah-Adu studied architecture at KNUST and chartered as an architect with the Royal Institute of British Architects in 1992. He subsequently obtained a Master of Business Administration Degree (Finance & Marketing) at the University of Wales, Cardiff, and a PhD in Strategy at Middlesex University, London.

He is married to Nana Kegya Appiah-Adu with 3 children; Afua, Kwaku, and Akua and is now a proud Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences.

The Academy currently with a membership of 98 living Fellows has its members carefully selected on a recommendation basis by a small working party.

GAAS has evolved over the years to become a major independent think tank that uses its platform to raise critical issues of contemporary relevance to all sectors of Ghanaian life.