Acquah Wins Central Bank Governor Of The Year Award

Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr Paul A. Acquah, has been awarded Central Bank Governor of the Year at the prestigious African Banker Awards 2008. A citation written by Omar Ben Yedder, Chairman of the organizing committee of the African Banker Awards and Associate Group Publisher of IC Publications and read in honour of the Governor at the awards ceremony states:

“Dr Acquah was born in Juabo, a village in the Western Region of Ghana. A graduate of the University of Ghana and Yale University in Economics, Governor Acquah obtained a Ph. D at the University of Pennsylvania, USA, and joined the IMF as a young economist. Rising through the ranks, he eventually became deputy director for the Africa Department in 1998.

The Banking system in Ghana is undergoing rapid change and much of this is attributable to Dr Paul Acquah and his technocratic team at the Bank. They have successfully re-denominated their currency. They have successfully issued their first Eurobond, sub Sahara’s first outside of South Africa, and he has pushed a consolidation of the banking sector in Ghana with some great success.

The independence and competence of the country’s banking system has also been key to his policy. Dr Acquah has overseen the stabilisation of the sector, based around institutions with a significant capital base. He believes a strong and independent banking system should be at the ‘heart of the government’s growth strategy’.

For the first time in 35 years, the Cedi has actually appreciated with respect to the dollar. In November 2003 when this writer was in Ghana the cedi was ¢9,500 to $1. Today it is around ¢9009 to $1. This is definitely an achievement worth praising.

Ghana's economy has been transformed by dint of the efforts of Paul Acquah, the Governor of the central bank. When he took over six years ago, the country was on the brink of disaster”.

End

October 30, 2008