Andrews Kwame Pianim is a

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

ian financier and former government official. He served as CEO of New World Investments, a company he co-founded in 1995. After ten years as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although n ...

, he made a 1996 bid to run for the presidency of Ghana.

Early life and family

Pianim attended Achimota School for his secondary education. He received a B.A. Double Honours in Economics and Political Science from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universities in North Ameri ...

, Canada (1963) and M.A. in economics from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

(1964), USA. Pianim married a

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

woman named Cornelia Pianim. Their youngest son Elkin Kwesi Pianim (born 1970), a

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States, closely foll ...

trained corporate financier, was married to media heiress Elisabeth Murdoch; Kwame Pianim has two grandchildren in common with

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian-born American business magnate. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of local, national, and international publishing outlets around the world, including ...

, namely Cornelia and Anna Pianim.

Economic and finance career

As an economist, his philosophy is multi-dimensional, but a consistent theme has been the essential incompatibility between the economic agenda of poor nations, or what ought to be their economic agenda, and the priorities of the Bretton Woods system. Pianim was chairman of the board at UBA Ghana from the bank's inception in Ghana in 2004 till 2014. He has been chairman of the board at Bayport Financial Services since 2002 and has also chaired the boards of Airtel Communications Ghana and e-Tranzact. He has also been school board chair at

Ghana International School Ghana International School is a coeducational international school located at Cantonment, Accra Ghana. Ghana International School has an enrollment of diverse backgrounds. The student population derives from many countries and cultural orientatio ...

Politics

He was arrested with a group of soldiers including Sgt. Akata Pore on 23 November 1982 following the capture of part of Gondar Barracks, Burma Camp in an apparent abortive coup attempt. His attempts to contest the 1996 presidential elections on the ticket of the centre-right

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

were scuppered when the Supreme Court ruled to uphold a controversial law preventing individuals convicted of treasonous acts from holding public office, even if such acts were committed during periods of unconstitutional rule. Following the Court's decision, he resigned from politics to focus on private activities within the realm of

development economics Development economics is a branch of economics which deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural ...

Recent activities

In 2001, he was appointed the chairman of the Public Utility Regulation Council (PURC) of Ghana, a high-level commission tasked with the responsibility of overseeing and regulating electricity and water utilities. He resigned in December 2007 as a result of differences with the then ruling NPP government of John A. Kufuor. He is the President of Old Achimotans Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pianim, Kwame Alumni of Achimota School Living people Ghanaian economists New Patriotic Party politicians People convicted of treason Ghanaian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Ghana Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) University of New Brunswick alumni Yale University alumni