Ghana elects Advisory Group Chair and Vice Chair

Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Enterprise Agency and new Chair Kosi Yankey-Ayeh (left) & Head of Corporate / Management of Public Procurement Authority and Vice Chair David Sebastian Damoah of the Alliance for Integrity Ghana's Advisory Group 

On Friday, March 18, 2022, the Advisory Group (AG) of the Alliance for Integrity in Ghana confirmed the election of its new leadership with Kosi Yankey-Ayeh and David Sebastian Damoah as Chair and Vice Chair respectively. Yankey-Ayeh is Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprises Agency and Damoah heads the Corporate and Management department of the country’s Public Procurement Authority.

Kosi Antwiwaa Yankey-Ayeh is the first female Chief Executive Officer of Ghana Enterprises Agency. She was formerly employed at the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI), a Ministry of Trade and Industry agency tasked with strengthening and growing Ghana's micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). Prior to this, Yankey-Ayeh worked in the United States, Europe, and West Africa for many years as a consultant and entrepreneur, where she developed a deep understanding and knowledge of finance, entrepreneurship, small and medium-sized enterprise development and policy development. She also served as an advisor on the finance ministry’s advisory committee and as a board member at the Accra Digital Centre, as well as many other committees. Within the last decade, she founded a financial institution and an agro-food processing enterprise. Yankey-Ayeh’s work was acclaimed further, when she was named one of five finalists in the Women in Business Challenge in the Netherlands in 2011. She played a key role in the implementation of programmes and projects for USAID, CIDA, JICA, AFdB, IFAD, the World Bank, and governments. Yankey-Ayeh earned a master's degree in public administration from Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. She won an excellence award from Harvard for academic achievement and contributions to the Edward S. Mason Program and the school. She has been awarded a post-graduate degree in Business Management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology-Sloan School of Management. She graduated from Wesleyan University in Connecticut with a B.A. in Government and a Certificate in Market Access for Sustainable Development.

David Sebastian Damoah has been elected as the new Vice Chair of the Advisory Group for the Alliance for Integrity at the Africa-Ghana Hub. Damoah is the Head of Corporate and Facilities Management at the Ghanaian Public Procurement Authority. He holds a master's degree in public relations from the Ghana Institute of Journalism as well as a professional law certificate from the Ghana School of Law. He is a lawyer who has served in a variety of positions for several organisations. His wide range of working areas as a journalist, marketing officer, legal director, and public affairs officer in the past will enrich and contribute to the Advisory Group’s activities and tasks. He was also a member of the Capacity Building Working Group of the Alliance for Integrity until he was nominated to serve on the Advisory Group by the PPA.

Within the Alliance for Integrity the Advisory Groups are local multi-stakeholder groups assigned with consultative tasks on the country level. Each Advisory Group serves as a sounding board for the network in the respective region. Its primary role is to provide direction and guidance to the initiative. The body consists of supporters, thought leaders, practitioners, and experts who steer the Alliance for Integrity towards the desired goal of promoting responsible and clean business in the respective region.

The network in Africa/Ghana congratulates the newly elected leaders and believes that they will be successful in steering the network's activities and achieving its goals together.

The Alliance for Integrity Ghana wishes to express its heartfelt gratitude and appreciation to the past Advisory Group Chair, Mrs Linda Ofori-Kwafo, Executive Director of the Ghana Integrity Initiative (GII), and the Vice Chair, Madam Beauty Emefa Narteh, Executive Secretary of the Ghana Anti-Corruption Coalition (GACC), for their support and contributions over the years.

Authors: Sandra Amankrah, Abdul-Rauf Yussif