Last week witnessed a series of activities by the government of Ghana, not excluding a number of names nominated for various responsibilities in the state. The ADB bank was one of the beneficiaries.
This follows the nomination of the Dr. Kofi Mensah by President of the Republic of Ghana – Nana Akufo – Addo to head the country’s Agricultural Development Bank (ADB).
The President made the announcement alongside a directive to the Ministry of Finance to immediately implement the necessary formalities (as outlined in the nation’s companies Act as well as the regulations of the government – owned development bank) for the appointment if confirmed by Parliament.
The ADB bank, was established in 1965 by an Act of Parliament under the Bank of Ghana with the sole aim meeting the ever-increasing funding needs of the country’s growing agricultural sector.
Under the current administration, the sector has assumed an even more significant role in building a thriving economy and more specifically with its proposed prominent feature in the one-district-one factory programme, helping to create much-needed jobs for the Ghanaian labour market.
To achieve these goals, the administration believes that a credible leadership at ADB is critical to positioning the bank to play that role in the most effective way. Hence, the nomination of Dr. Kofi Mensah.
A Brief Profile
With a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Ghana, a Masters in Banking and Finance from FinAfrica Institute in Milan – Italy and more recently last year(2016), a Doctoral degree  in Finance from the Swiss Management Centre University in Switzerland, Dr. K. Mensah represents what many would regard as ‘modern technocrat’ – those with a deep knowledge of the terrain as well as equipped with cutting-edge professional skills or capabilities required to provide much-needed leadership at the bank.
He begun his career as an Economic and Research Officer at Ghana’s defunct Bank of Housing and Construction. He later moved to the Security Discount House where he served as Deputy Chief Money Market Dealer until 1996.
Dr. Mensah then moved into the commercial banking industry where he rose from General Operations Manager to Deputy Managing Director at Unibank and later in 2011, appointed CEO of First Capital Plus.
Until his nomination to lead ADB, he was the Director of Family Fountain Asset Management & Securities Limited and several others.