Paul Amoako Acquah 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 a former Deputy Director for the Africa Department of 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 ...

from 1998 to 2001. He is also a former Governor of the Bank of Ghana (2001-2009). During his tenure as Governor of the Bank of Ghana he implemented the re-denomination of the Ghanaian cedi.

Early life and education

He was born in Juabo in the Western Region of Ghana. Acquah had his secondary education at St. Augustine's College. He later obtained his 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 ...

from the

University of Ghana 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 Br ...

, Legon. He proceeded to obtain his master's degree from

Yale University Yale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and among the most prestigious in the wo ...

and his PhD from

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

Career

Acquah joined the International Monetary Fund as an economist. He worked for the fund and served in various capacities till 1998 when he became the fund's deputy director of its Africa department. In 2001 he resigned from the IMF and was appointed by the then President of Ghana, John Kufuor as the Governor of the Bank of Ghana until 2009. Acquah became Governor of the Bank of Ghana in 2001. One of his major achievement was the re-denomination of the cedi and the introduction of the Pesewa in 2007. Four zeros were knocked off the then currency, this led to the reintroduction of the pesewa which is the basic unit of the Ghanaian cedi. After leaving the Bank of Ghana, Paul Acquah joined a new team setup to oversee the restructuring and development of

Tema Oil Refinery The Tema Oil Refinery (TOR) is one of two crude oil refineries in Ghana. History The refinery is in Tema, the most industrialized city in Ghana. It is from Accra, the capital of Ghana. The refinery was first named the Ghanaian Italian Petroleum ...

and Ghana's crude oil supply. Other team members were

Kwabena Duffuor Kwabena Duffuor was the List of Mills government ministers, Finance Minister of Ghana. He has also served as the governor of the Bank of Ghana. He was named as one of the four best Central Bank Governors in the World at an IMF/World Bank meeting ...

, Chief of Staff

John Henry Martey Newman John Henry Martey Newman is a Ghanaian administrator, lawyer and a former Chief of Staff of Ghana. He was appointed by President John Atta Mills in 2009 and served in that capacity even after the death of the president in 2012. Early life and ed ...

, and Minister of Energy Joe Oteng-Adjei.

Awards

In 2005, Acquah won the Emerging Markets award for Africa Central Bank Governor of the Year.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acquah, Paul Governors of Bank of Ghana 20th-century Ghanaian economists Living people Yale University alumni University of Pennsylvania alumni Year of birth missing (living people) St. Augustine's College (Cape Coast) alumni Fante people 21st-century Ghanaian economists