Maxwell Opoku-Afari is a Ghanaian

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

and currently the First Deputy

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

of the

Bank of Ghana The Bank of Ghana ( BoG) is the central bank of Ghana. It is located in Accra and was formed in 1957. The bank is active in developing financial inclusion policy and is a member of thAlliance for Financial Inclusion History The Central Ban ...

. He was appointed to this position on August 7, 2017. Prior to assuming the role of Deputy Governor, Opoku-Afari worked at the

International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster globa ...

(IMF). Opoku-Afari also worked for 13 years at the Bank of Ghana, rising through the ranks to become the Head of the Special Studies Division in the

Research Department Research is " creative and systematic work undertaken to increase the stock of knowledge". It involves the collection, organization and analysis of evidence to increase understanding of a topic, characterized by a particular attentiveness ...

between January 2005 and June 2006, and later elevated to the position of the Special Assistant to the Governor of Bank of Ghana from June 2006 until he left the Bank of Ghana in October 2009.

Education

Opoku-Afari attended the

Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary (formerly St John's Seminary and College, nicknamed POJOSS), is an all-boys boarding school, located at Effiduase, Koforidua, in the Eastern Region of Ghana. It was established in 1958 by Bishop ...

from 1987 to 1989. After graduating, he went to

University of Ghana, Legon The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the B ...

for his first degree in

economics Economics () is the social science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and intera ...

and

statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

and an

MPhil The Master of Philosophy (MPhil; Latin ' or ') is a postgraduate degree. In the United States, an MPhil typically includes a taught portion and a significant research portion, during which a thesis project is conducted under supervision. An MPhil m ...

in economics. In 2004, he obtained a

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is a ...

in economics from the

University of Nottingham The University of Nottingham is a public university, public research university in Nottingham, United Kingdom. It was founded as University College Nottingham in 1881, and was granted a royal charter in 1948. The University of Nottingham belongs t ...

in the United Kingdom.

Career

Prior to assuming the role of Deputy Governor, Opoku-Afari worked at the

(IMF) from December 2009, rising through the ranks to the level of Deputy Division Chief and Mission Chief. He was the Deputy Division Chief in the Regional Studies Division in the African Department of the IMF where he led and supervised the production of one of the IMF's flagship publication—the Regional Economic Outlook for sub-Saharan Africa. In addition, he also served as the Mission Chief for

Mauritius Mauritius ( ; french: Maurice, link=no ; mfe, label=Mauritian Creole, Moris ), officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island nation in the Indian Ocean about off the southeast coast of the African continent, east of Madagascar. It incl ...

, where he led policy discussions on a wide range of issues including the financial sector, macro-financial linkages, fiscal and monetary policies, and growth strategies. He previously worked in the Strategy, Policy and Review Department of the IMF. While at the IMF, Opoku-Afari participated in IMF negotiation missions to several African and

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

countries and handled extensive policy discussions on

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

and

Sao Tome and Principe SAO or Sao may refer to: Places * Sao civilisation, in Middle Africa from 6th century BC to 16th century AD * Sao, a town in Boussé Department, Burkina Faso * Saco Transportation Center (station code SAO), a train station in Saco, Maine, U. ...

—where he led the program negotiation mission in 2015. He was also a reviewer of country policy documents for a number of developing countries. Prior to joining the IMF in 2009, Opoku-Afari worked for 13 years at the

, rising through the ranks to become the Head of the Special Studies Division in the Research Department between January 2005 and June 2006, and later elevated to the position of the Special Assistant to the Governor of Bank of Ghana from June 2006 until he left the Bank of Ghana in October 2009. He was also a member of the Government of Ghana's Capital Markets Committee from 2006 to 2008. Opoku-Afari's work at the IMF also focused on policy design, in particular, on monetary policy modernization and macro-financial linkages. He has co-authored a number of IMF

Policy Policy is a deliberate system of guidelines to guide decisions and achieve rational outcomes. A policy is a statement of intent and is implemented as a procedure or protocol. Policies are generally adopted by a governance body within an organ ...

Papers including one on “''Modernizing Monetary Policy Frameworks in Low and Developing Countries''” and another on “''Monetary Policy Conditionality for Countries with Evolving Monetary Policy Regimes''”.Mcgettigan, D., Moriyama, K., Steinberg, C., Adler, G., & Sosa, S. (2013). Monetary Policy Cyclicality in Emerging Markets External Conditions and Debt Sustainability in Latin America. ''IMF IMF'', ''14''(3). Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/External/Pubs/FT/irb/2013/03/index.pdf ‌''EVOLVING MONETARY POLICY FRAMEWORKS IN LOW-INCOME AND OTHER DEVELOPING COUNTRIES''. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2015/102315.pdf ‌ These two policy papers are currently being used to drive modernization of monetary policy frameworks in a number of low and developing countries. He has extensive publications on monetary policy, inclusive growth, short-term output indicators in

low income countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

, aid effectiveness, and on capital flows and

real exchange rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of t ...

dynamics.

Other positions

As First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Opoku-Afari serves as a member on many

Government of Ghana The Government of Ghana was created as a parliamentary democracy, followed by alternating military and civilian governments in Ghana. In January 1993, military government gave way to the Fourth Republic after presidential and parliamentary electi ...

agencies and committees that deal with financial policy and management, including: * Member Board of Directors of Bank of Ghana (August 2017 to present) * Member Monetary Policy Committee of Bank of Ghana (August 2017 to present) * Alternate Governor at the IMF for the

(October 2017 to present) * Appointed Member of the Government of Ghana Post-

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

Pandemic Economic Revitalization Team of Experts (March 2020 to present) * Alternate Chair of National Payments Systems Advisory Council (December 2019 to present) * Chair of Governing Council, Ghana Fixed Income Market (August 2017 to present) * Board Member, Ghana Minerals Income Investment Fund (January 2019 to present) * Board Member, Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlement Systems—GhIPSS (August 2017 to present) * Board Member, Ghana Revenue Authority—GRA (August 2017 to present) * Board Member, Ghana Investment Promotion Center—GIPC (January 2018 to present) * Board Member, Ghana Data Protection Commission (January 2018 to present) * Chair of Governing Council, National Banking College (August 2017 to present) * Board Chair, Ghana Central Securities Depository (August 2017 to present) * Board Chair, African Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (AFRACA), Nairobi, Kenya (August 2017 – July 2019) * Member and Deputy Board Chair, Ghana International Bank, PLC (A

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

-Based PRA and FCA Regulated Financial Institution) - (January 2018 to present) * Member and co-chair, Economic Policy Coordinating Committee of the Government of

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 ...

(August 2018 to present) * Member and Key Presenter to Investors for all Government of Ghana Sovereign Bond Programmes (August 2017 to present)

Works

Opoku-Afari's work at the IMF focused on policy design, in particular, on monetary policy modernization and macro-financial linkages. He has co-authored a number of IMF Policy Papers including one on “Modernizing Monetary Policy Frameworks in Low and

Developing Countries A developing country is a sovereign state with a lesser developed industrial base and a lower Human Development Index (HDI) relative to other countries. However, this definition is not universally agreed upon. There is also no clear agreem ...

” and another on “

Monetary Policy Monetary policy is the policy adopted by the monetary authority of a nation to control either the interest rate payable for very short-term borrowing (borrowing by banks from each other to meet their short-term needs) or the money supply, often a ...

Conditionality for Countries with Evolving Monetary Policy Regimes”. These two policy papers are currently being used to drive modernization of monetary policy frameworks in a number of low and developing countries. He has extensive publications on monetary policy, inclusive growth, short-term output indicators in low income countries, aid effectiveness, and on capital flows and real exchange rate dynamics. He is the author and co-author of the following works: *2000, “A Review of the Literature on Financial Sector Reform and its Impact on the Poor: Any Lessons from Ghana?” (with E.K.Y Addison and M. Bawumia). A Research Project Funded by the Social Unit of the Enterprise & Co-operative Development Department of

ILO The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is the first and ol ...

and the

Government of Netherlands The politics of the Netherlands take place within the framework of a parliamentary representative democracy, a constitutional monarchy, and a decentralised unitary state.''Civil service systems in Western Europe'' edited by A. J. G. M. Bekke, ...

, November, 2000. *2004, “Measurement of Real Effective Exchange Rate (REER) in Ghana” CREDIT Research Paper 04/11, University of Nottingham, UK. *2004, “

Real Exchange Rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of t ...

Response to Capital Inflows: A Dynamic Analysis for Ghana” CREDIT Research Paper 04/12,

, UK (with Morrissey, O and Lloyd, T). *2005, “The Future of Domestic

Capital Markets A capital market is a financial market in which long-term debt (over a year) or equity-backed securities are bought and sold, in contrast to a money market where short-term debt is bought and sold. Capital markets channel the wealth of savers to ...

in Developing Countries”. Edited by Robert Litan, Michael Pomerleano and V SUNDARARAJAN (

Washington DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan, ...

Brookings Institution Press The Brookings Institution, often stylized as simply Brookings, is an American research group founded in 1916. Located on Think Tank Row in Washington, D.C., the organization conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in ec ...

, 2003, pp. 532, p/bk £29.00),

Journal of International Development The ''Journal of International Development'' is the official peer-reviewed academic journal of the Development Studies Association. It publishes research on international development issues with its main focus on the social sciences (economics, po ...

, 2005, 17 (8), pp: 1097–8. *2007, “Capital Flows and

Current Account Current account or Current Account may refer to: * Current account (balance of payments), a country's balance of trade, net of factor income and cash transfers * Current account (banking) A transaction account, also called a checking account, ch ...

Sustainability Specific definitions of sustainability are difficult to agree on and have varied in the literature and over time. The concept of sustainability can be used to guide decisions at the global, national, and individual levels (e.g. sustainable livi ...

: The Ghanaian Experience” CREDIT Research Paper 07/07,

, UK. *2009, “Fiscal Effects of

Aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Ai ...

: A Comparative Dynamic Analysis” in Mavrotas G. and McGillivray, M (eds.) Development Aid: A Fresh Look, Palgrave Macmillan Publishers (with Lloyd, T, McGillivray, M. and Morrissey, O). *2012, “Tracking Short Term Dynamics of Economic Activity in LICs in the Absence of High Frequency Data” IMF Working Paper 12/119 (with S. Dixit). *2013, “Inclusive Growth: Application of the Social Opportunity Function to Selected African Countries” IMF Working Paper 13/139 (with O. Adedeji, and H Du). *2014, “

Exchange Rate In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...

Dynamics and

Monetary Money is any item or verifiable record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts, such as taxes, in a particular country or socio-economic context. The primary functions which distinguish money are as ...

Integration in the EAC” –Submitted to Journal of African Economies (with S. Cuiabano).Cuiabano, Simone & Opoku-Afari, Maxwell. (2018). Exchange Rate Dynamics and Monetary Integration in the EAC Countries. Atlantic Economic Journal. 46
10.1007/s11293-018-9586-6.
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References

External links

* IMF Works links: https://www.imf.org/external/np/pp/eng/2015/102315.pdf https://www.imf.org/External/Pubs/FT/irb/2013/03/index.pdf https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2282974 {{DEFAULTSORT:Opoku-Afari, Maxwell Governors of Bank of Ghana Banking in Ghana University of Ghana alumni Alumni of the University of Nottingham Ghanaian Christians International Monetary Fund people Bank of Ghana Ghanaian economists Pope John Senior High School and Minor Seminary alumni Year of birth missing (living people) Living people