Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang Minister for Education In office February 2013 – January 2017 President John Dramani Mahama Preceded by Lee Ocran Succeeded by Matthew Opoku Prempeh Personal details November 22, 1951 (age 68) Born Cape Coast, Ghana Political National Democratic Congress party • Wesley Girls' Senior High School Alma mater • University of Cape Coast • York University Occupation Professor Jane Naana Opoku Agyemang (born 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana) is a former Minister for Education in Ghana. She was appointed in 2013 by President John Mahama after the 2012 Ghanaian general election and served until January 2017 when the Nana Akuffo- Addo administration was elected to power. She is a member of the National Democratic Congress. Professor Opoku-Agyemang, former Vice-Chancellor of University of Cape Coast, Ghana, was the first female Vice-Chancellor of a state University in Ghana. She assumed duty on 1 October 2008, succeeding Emmanuel Addow-Obeng. Biography Born on 22 November 1951 in Cape Coast, Ghana, Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang attended Anglican Girls' Secondary School at Koforidua and Aburi Presby Girls' School. She then had her secondary education at the Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast from 1964 to 1971. She completed B.Ed.(Hons) in English and French at the University of Cape Coast in 1977 and obtained her Masters and Doctorate degrees from York University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in 1980 and 1986 respectively. Professor Opoku-Agyemang taught and worked at the University of Cape Coast, starting in 1986. She has held various academic positions including Head of the Department of English, Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Warden of Adehye Hall, Valco Trust Fund Post-Graduate Hostel, and Dean of School of Graduate Studies and Research. From 1997, she has held the position of Academic Director of the School for International Training in the History and Cultures of the African Diaspora. From 2008-2012 she was the University's Vice Chancellor. In March, 2007, she was one of five scholars selected to deliver presentations during the 200th Anniversary of the Abolition of Slavery at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City. In October 2009, she was elected Ghana's representative to the Executive Board of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). Ahead of the 2012 general elections, Jane Opoku Agyemang moderated the debate with Kojo Oppong Nkrumah. Between February 2013 and January 2017 she served as the Education Minister of Ghana. On 26 October 2018, she became the Chancellor of the Women's University in Africa located in Zimbabwe. She has served on many local and international boards and committees such as the Centre for Democratic Governance, (CDD-Ghana), the Editorial Board of The Harriet Tubman Series on the African Diaspora (Africa World Press Inc. USA), the Africa Initiative in Canada,and the College of Physicians and Surgeons as Eminent Citizen. Professional association Opoku-Agyemang is a Fellow of the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences, University Teachers Association of Ghana, English Studies Association, African Studies Association, United States, African Literature Association, United States and International Fulbright Scholars Association,Commonwealth of Learning among others. Awards and recognition Opoku-Agyemang has been honoured with honorary degrees from the University of West Indies and Winston-Salem University. She has also received an award for Global leadership from the University of South Florida in Tampa. She has also received the Officer of the Order of the Volta award for Academic Distinction and Ghana Women of Excellence Award in the Education category.She has been acknowledged for Outstanding Performance in Advancing International Education, School for International Training, Vermont, USA on two occasions. Kwabena Duffuor Hon. Kwabena Duffuor Finance Minister In office January 2009 – January 2013 President John Atta Mills Preceded by Anthony Akoto Osei Succeeded by Seth Terkper Governor, Bank of Ghana In office July 1997 – Sep 2001 President Jerry Rawlings Preceded by G.K. Agama Succeeded by Paul Acquah Personal details Nationality Ghanaian Political party National Democratic Congress Children 5 University of Ghana Alma mater Syracuse University Profession Banker, lecturer, politician Kwabena Duffuor was the 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 in 1999. He is a Fellow of the Akuafo Hall, University of Ghana, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers. Duffuor is the founder and chairman of HODA Holdings, a business entity comprising Insurance, Banking, Real Estates, Farming, Mining and Media. He is also the founder and president of the Institute for Fiscal Studies in Ghana, a non-profit think-tank providing economic advocacy and training which he established in March, 2013. He is also the founder of uniBank which controversially collapsed in 2018. Early life and education Kwabena Duffuor had his secondary education at the Prempeh College at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He proceeded to the University of Ghana where he graduated in 1968 with a B. Sc. degree in economics. His postgraduate studies were at the Syracuse University in New York, United States where he obtained a Masters in Business Administration degree in Finance and Banking and Master of Arts in Economics in 1975. He was also awarded a Doctorate of Philosophy in International Finance in 1979 at the same university. In 1958, Duffuor entered Prempeh College in Kumasi on a Ghana Cocoa Marketing Board scholarship, where he obtained both his O-Level and A-Level certificates in 1962 and 1964 respectively. In 1968 Duffuor obtained a B.Sc. (Economics) degree from the University of Ghana and after working briefly with V.R.A he started his career with the Ghana Commercial Bank in 1969. Between the years 1973 and 1979, while working with GCB Bank, Dr. Duffuor obtained a USAID and African Graduate Fellowship Awards to pursue further studies at Syracuse University in New York. He obtained an MBA in Finance and Banking, an MA in economics in 1975 and a PhD in 1979, all from Maxwell School at the Syracuse University. After working briefly as an economist at the IMF in Washington, Dr. Duffuor returned to Ghana and combined his banking work at Ghana Commercial Bank with Lecturing in Economics and Finance at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1991. Career He started work with the Ghana Commercial Bank in 1969, where he rose to become chief economist and head of research department. Between 1982 and 1991, Duffuor worked full- time as a banker. He also worked as a part-time lecturer in economics, finance and banking at the Economics Department and the School of Administration at the University of Ghana. He was appointed an external examiner in finance from 1985 at the university. In 1995, he became deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana. In July 1997, President Jerry Rawlings appointed Duffuor as the governor of the Bank of Ghana. He held this position till his four- year term ended in September 2001. At Ghana Commercial Bank, he rose through the ranks, becoming general manager and head of London Branch in 1991. Under his tenureship the GCB London Branch registered very impressive growth. The bank's profits soared from £1.5 million in 1991 to £3.6 million in 1994. Consequently, the Income/Expense ratio dropped from 75per cent in 1991 to 55 per cent by the end of 1994. During the same period Duffuor led a group of international banks including chemical bank (London), standard chartered bank (London) in arranging a syndicated loan of $140 million for Ghana Cocoa Board and $65 million for Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC). By 1994 the GCB London had become so visible in the city of London that he was invited to the prestigious Annual Dinner of the Lord Mayor of London at Mansion House on 14 June 1994. The invitation was to give Dr Duffuor opportunity to meet notable personalities including the Chancellor of Exchequer, governor of the Bank of England, head of Lloyd's of London and the lord mayor of London as well as captains of industry and finance in the United Kingdom. In July 1995, Dr. Duffuor was appointed the Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, and therefore came back home. As deputy governor he focused on the restructuring of Government Accounts, Human Capital Development, Commercial Banking Services and Treasury Services and Foreign Exchange Market Development of the bank. He again initiated the introduction of two-way quotation system (offer/bid rates in the Foreign Exchange transaction in the bank and thereby removed the subsidy to users of foreign exchange. In 1996, he arranged US$100 million Syndicated Facility with Societe General Bank (London) Branch for the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Finance. In July 1997, he was appointed governor of the bank; driving a range of reforms in the bank, including the conversion of Ghana Commercial Bank London Branch into a UK incorporated Bank – Ghana International Bank, plc in March 1998. In November 1997, an honorary fellowship was conferred on Dr Duffuor by the Institute of Bankers in Ghana for his loyal and meritorious service to the banking industry. He was nominated Ghana's man of the year by the readers of The Independent newspaper. Board engagements In March 2003, Dr. Duffuor was appointed chairman of the Presidential Committee on Promotion and Revitalization of the Industrial Sector on Sustainable Basis. Again in December 2003, the governments of Ghana and Denmark jointly appointed him to the chairmanship of the Programme Committee for the Business Sector Programme Support (BSPS) which the Danish Government sponsored for the Ghanaian Private Sector Development for the period 2003–08.