Samuel Esson Jonah (born 19 November 1949) 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 businessman and the current chancellor of the

University of Cape Coast The University of Cape Coast is a public collegiate university located in the historic town of Cape Coast. The campus has a rare seafront and sits on a hill overlooking the wide Atlantic Ocean. It operates on two campuses: the Southern Campus (O ...

. He is the executive chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in

Johannesburg, South Africa Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

. Jonah was previously president of

AngloGold Ashanti AngloGold Ashanti Limited is a global gold mining company. It was formed in 2004 by the merger of AngloGold and the Ashanti Goldfields Corporation. It is now a global gold producer with 21 operations on four continents. The company is listed ...

and shared the strategic leadership of the company with its CEO,

Bobby Godsell Robert Michael "Bobby" Godsell (born 14 September 1952 in Johannesburg)Bobby Godsell
Who'swho South Africa, acces ...

. He is also a board member of the Otumfuo Osei Tutu II Foundation.

Early life and education

Sam Jonah is a Fante Royal but born in

Obuasi Obuasi is a Mining Community and town in the southern part of Obuasi Municipal of the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Obuasi is the capital of the Obuasi Municipal which lies south of Ashanti capital city Kumasi 39 miles (59.4 kilometres) away south ...

and had his high-school education at Adisadel College then earned an Associateship in

Mining Engineering Mining in the engineering discipline is the extraction of minerals from underneath, open pit, above or on the ground. Mining engineering is associated with many other disciplines, such as mineral processing, exploration, excavation, geology, and ...

at the

Camborne School of Mines The Camborne School of Mines ( kw, Scoll Balow Cambron), commonly abbreviated to CSM, was founded in 1888. Its research and teaching is related to the understanding and management of the Earth's natural processes, resources and the environment. ...

and subsequently a MSc in Mine Management at the

Imperial College of Science and Technology Imperial College London (legally Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom. Its history began with Prince Albert, consort of Queen Victoria, who developed his vision for a cu ...

Career

He joined

Ashanti Goldfields Corporation The Ashanti Goldfields Corporation is a gold mining company based in Ghana that was founded by Joseph Ellis and Joseph Biney both from Cape Coast. The Ashanti Mine, located at Obuasi, 56 km south of Kumasi, has been producing since 1897. Dur ...

in 1979, working in various capacities, including underground operations. At the age of 36 he became the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

, and supervised the transformation of Ashanti Goldfields into a mining multinational, increased gold production from 240,000 ounces per annum to over 1.6 million ounces in over ten years, and oversaw the company's listing as the first operating African company on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. In 2009, he became a non-executive director of

Vodafone Vodafone Group Public limited company, plc () is a British Multinational corporation, multinational Telephone company, telecommunications company. Its registered office and Headquarters, global headquarters are in Newbury, Berkshire, England. It ...

. Jonah was elected a member of the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American nonprofit, non-governmental organization. The National Academy of Engineering is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy ...

in 2019 for leadership and technical contributions in advancing the mineral industry in Africa. Currently, the

chancellor Chancellor ( la, cancellarius) is a title of various official positions in the governments of many nations. The original chancellors were the of Roman courts of justice—ushers, who sat at the or lattice work screens of a basilica or law cou ...

of the

, Jonah chairs the boards of Equator Exploration Limited, Scharrig Mining,

Equinox Minerals Equinox Minerals is a mining and exploration company with corporate offices in Perth, Australia and Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It has operations in Peru and Australia. In Zambia it owned the Lumwana Mining Company, but that was bought by Barrick ...

, Uramin, Moto Goldmines Ltd and

Range Resources Range Resources Corporation is a natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. It operates in the Marcellus Formation, where it is one of the largest land owners. As of December 31, 2021, the company had 17.77 ...

Limited. He also serves or has served on various boards, including

Transnet Transnet SOC Ltd is a large South African rail, port and pipeline company, headquartered in the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg. It was formed as a limited company on 1 April 1990. A majority of the company's stock is owned by the Department ...

, Mittal Steel SA,

Ashesi University Ashesi University ( ) is a private, non-profit university located in Accra, Ghana. The mission of Ashesi University is to educate ethical, entrepreneurial leaders in Africa; to cultivate within students the critical thinking skills, the concer ...

Standard Bank of South Africa Standard Bank Group Limited is a major South African bank and financial services group. It is Africa's biggest lender by assets. The company's corporate headquarters, Standard Bank Centre, is situated in Simmonds Street, Johannesburg. History ...

Lonmin Lonmin plc, formerly Lonrho plc, was a British producer of platinum group metals operating in the Bushveld Complex of South Africa. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange. Its registered office was in London, and its operational headquarters ...

, the Commonwealth African Investment Fund (Comafin), the advisory council of the UN Secretary General's Global Compact, President

Olusegun Obasanjo Chief Olusegun Matthew Okikiola Ogunboye Aremu Obasanjo, , ( ; yo, Olúṣẹ́gun Ọbásanjọ́ ; born 5 March 1937) is a Nigerian political and military leader who served as Nigeria's head of state from 1976 to 1979 and later as its pres ...

's International Investment Advisory Council on Nigeria, President

Thabo Mbeki Thabo Mvuyelwa Mbeki KStJ (; born 18 June 1942) is a South African politician who was the second president of South Africa from 14 June 1999 to 24 September 2008, when he resigned at the request of his party, the African National Congress (ANC ...

's International Investment Advisory Council of South Africa, and President

John Kufuor John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the President of Ghana from 7 January 2001 to 7 January 2009. He was also Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. Kufuor's career has been sp ...

's Ghana Investors' Advisory Council. As well as his directorships, Jonah is a member of the advisory board of the

London Business School London Business School (LBS) is a business school and a constituent college of the federal University of London. LBS was founded in 1964 and awards post-graduate degrees (Master's degrees in management and finance, MBA and PhD). Its motto is " ...

Honours and recognition

Jonah's honours include an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc.) degree awarded jointly by the

and the

University of Exeter The University of Exeter is a public university , public research university in Exeter, Devon, England, United Kingdom. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School of Min ...

(UK) in 1996. ''Jonah House'' in Adisadel College has been named after his father, Thomas Jonah. In June 2003, Jonah became the first Ghanaian to be knighted in the 21st century when he was presented with an

honorary knighthood In the United Kingdom and the British Overseas Territories, personal bravery, achievement, or service are rewarded with honours. The honours system consists of three types of award: *Honours are used to recognise merit in terms of achievement a ...

(

KBE KBE may refer to: * Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, post-nominal letters * Knowledge-based engineering Knowledge-based engineering (KBE) is the application of knowledge-based systems technology to the domain o ...

) by the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

, in recognition of his achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth, and an international public figure. Jonah has listed among the richest people in Ghana. On 5 December 2019, he was appreciated by the Ghana Mine workers union with a platinum award for his contribution to developing the mining industry in Ghana. In January 2023, he was listed among the 100 most reputable Africans in the field of business.

References

External links

AngloGold Ashanti corporate site
at

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a Public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related Land-grant university, land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvan ...

website {{DEFAULTSORT:Jonah, Samuel Esson Ghanaian mining engineers Ghanaian businesspeople Alumni of Imperial College London Living people 1949 births Alumni of the University of Exeter Academics of London Business School Private equity and venture capital investors Honorary Knights Commander of the Order of the British Empire AngloGold Ashanti Vodafone people University of Cape Coast Alumni of Adisadel College

Early life and education

Career

Honours and recognition

References

Further reading

External links