Dr. Wampah to step down as Bank of Ghana governor – Report

Dr. Kofi Wampah - Bank of Ghana Governor
Dr. Kofi Wampah – Bank of Ghana Governor

The governor of the Bank of Ghana, Dr. Kofi Wampah says he will retire this week, according to the Reuters news service.

According to the report, Dr. Wampah whose four-year term officially ends August 5 had informed Preisdent John Mahama of his decision to retire early because this is an election year.

“I told him I wanted to leave office early and we have agreed that I will exit at the end of March. It is just fair to leave early in order to give enough room for my successor, whoever it might be, to settle down before we get to the elections,” Dr. Wampah was quoted by Reuters to have said.

He told Reuters that one of his two deputies, either Millison Narh or Abdul Nashiru Issahaku, was expected to serve as interim central bank governor until the President chooses a permanent successor.

Dr. Wampah was confirmed substantive governor on April 2, 2013 to replace Mr. Akwasi Amissah-Arthur after he had acted for a while as governor when the latter was nominated as vice-presidential candidate to President Mahama in the 2012 general elections.

When Wampah was confirmed as governor, inflation for April 2013 was 10.6 per cent. Under his tenure as at February 2016, the inflation rate stands at 18.5 per cenrt.

Dr Wampah’s Career

Dr. Henry Akpenamawu Kofi Wampah was appointed to the position of First Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana in May 2009.

Prior to his appointment as First Deputy Governor, Dr. Wampah was the Director of the Research and Statistics Department of the West African Monetary Institute (WAMI), responsible for the overall supervision and coordination of the work programme of the Department.

He supervised the planning and implementation of the Macroeconomic Convergence monitoring programme of the West African Monetary Zone (WAMZ), and was extensively involved in preparing the five member countries of the zone (The Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) for monetary union, in the areas of macroeconomic convergence and policy harmonization (monetary policy, statistics, fiscal policy and exchange rate management).

Dr. Wampah was the Head of the Research Department of the Bank of Ghana for five years from February 1996 to February 2001 until he went on secondment to WAMI.

He has served the Bank of Ghana in various capacities as Head of the Statistics Office and Head of the Public Finance Office of the Research Department.

Dr. Wampah began his career at the Bank of Ghana in September 1986 as a Deputy Manager and rose through the ranks to become a Director in 2006.

While still with the Bank, he worked at the International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC as a Special Appointee from May to December 1998, with the Monetary Operations Division of the Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department and the Africa Department.

He has participated in the Technical Assistance Mission on Monetary Operations and Banking Soundness to the Gambia, and also worked on a project on economic integration in East Africa.

Dr. Wampah has a background in teaching, having held various teaching appointments with McGill University, Montreal, Canada and the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon in the areas of economic statistics and mathematics.

Dr Wampah obtained a B.A. (Hons) Economics and Statistics degree in 1977 from the University of Ghana, Legon. He studied for a Masters’ degree (1983) and a Ph.D (1986) in Economics with specializations in econometrics and public finance from McGill University. He had his secondary education at Hohoe E. P. Secondary School (GCE ‘O’ Level) and Konongo-Odumase Secondary School (GCE ‘A’ Level).

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi

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