Eminent Panel
Nobel Laureate in economics, Professor Finn Kydland, is joined by leading economists from Ghana – Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, Prof. George Gyan-Baffour, Prof. Augustin Fosu, Prof. Kwesi Botchwey, and Prof. Ernest Aryeetey. The Eminent Panel members will read all of the research papers, listen to presentations and put questions to the researchers at an academic conference in 2020.
At the end of the conference, they will rank all of the interventions and establish what would do the most good for every cedi spent. Scroll down to learn more about each member of the Eminent Panel.
Mr Ken Ofori-Atta
Mr Kenneth Ofori-Atta is a Ghanaian economist and an investment banker and co-founder of Databank in Ghana. He currently serves as Minister of Finance. He was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo on 10 January 2017 and assumed office on 27 January 2017.
Prof. George Gyan-Baffour
Prof. George Yaw Gyan-Baffour is a Ghanaian development economist and politician. He is the incumbent Member of Parliament and represented the Wenchi constituency since 2005. He was a professor at Howard University in Washington, D.C., from 1993 to 2001. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and the current minister of Planning in Ghana.
Prof. Sister Euginia Amporfu
Prof. Sister Euginia Amporfu is an Associate Professor in the Department of Economics at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). She holds a PhD in Economics from Simon Fraser University, Burn-aby, Canada, and she serves as an External Director on the Governing Board of the Bank of Ghana. She is a member of the Fiscal Council Ghana.
Prof. Kwesi Botchwey
Prof. Kwesi Botchwey is a Ghanaian former government official and Professor of Practice in Development Economics at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University. Dr. Botchwey was Ghana's Minister of Finance from 1982 to 1995. He was appointed by Jerry Rawlings to assist in stabilizing Ghana's collapsed economy.
He received his secondary school education at the Presbyterian Boys' Senior High School in Ghana. Botchwey holds an LL.B. from the University of Ghana, a LL.M from Yale Law School, and a doctorate from the University of Michigan Law School. He taught at the University of Zambia, the University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania) and the University of Ghana.
Prof. Augustin Fosu
Prof. Augustin Fosu is Professor, Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER), University of Ghana. He also holds a number of (honorary) appointments, including: Extraordinary Professor, Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences, University of Pretoria, South Africa; BWPI Research Associate, University of Manchester, UK; and CSAE Research Associate, University of Oxford, UK. His previous positions include: Deputy Director, UN University-WIDER, Finland (2006-2013); Senior Policy Advisor/Chief Economist, UN Economic Commission for Africa, Ethiopia (2004-2006); and Director of Research, African Economic Research Consortium, Kenya (1998-2004). He holds a PhD in economics from Northwestern University, USA. He has published widely, with certain rankings listing him among ‘top economists/authors’ in Africa and globally.
Prof. Ernest Aryeetey
Prof. Ernest Aryeetey is the Secretary-General of the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana.
Prior to his appointment as Vice-Chancellor, he was a Senior Fellow and Director of the Africa Growth Initiative at the Brookings Institution, Washington, D.C. He was also Director of the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) of the University of Ghana, Legon for the period February 2003 – January 2010.
Prof. Finn E. Kydland
Prof. Finn Erling Kydland is a Norwegian economist known for his contributions to business cycle theory. He is the Henley Professor of Economics at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He also holds the Richard P. Simmons Distinguished Professorship at the Tepper School of Business of Carnegie Mellon University, where he earned his Ph.D., and a part-time position at the Norwegian School of Economics (NHH). Kydland was a co-recipient of the 2004 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economics, with Edward C. Prescott, "for their contributions to dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycles."