Abena Osei-Asare appointed Minister of State at the Finance Ministry

President Nana Akufo-Addo has made fresh changes to his government with the appointment of Abena Osei-Asare as a Minister of State at the Finance Ministry.

Ms Osei-Asare, until her elevation was a deputy minister.

She replaces Mohammed Amin Adam, who has been appointed as the new Finance Minister following the departure of Ken Ofori-Atta on Wednesday, February 14, 2024.

Ofori-Atta served in that position for seven years and two months.

Furthermore, Dr. Alexander Ampaabeng, the NPP 2024 parliamentary candidate for the Juaboso constituency in the Western North Region, has been appointed the Deputy Minister for Finance, replacing Abena Osei-Asare.

This appointment follows Osei-Asare’s promotion from the deputy ministerial position to a minister of state.

President Akufo-Addo’s reshuffling of his government on Valentine’s Day marks the largest shake-up to date. The appointments of Osei-Asare and Ampaabeng were officially communicated to the Speaker of Parliament, Alban Somana Kingsford Bagbin.

The two newly appointed officials are expected to undergo vetting by Parliament’s appointments committee in the coming days.

Abena Osei-Asare is a highly experienced banker and chartered accountant.

She has been the Member of Parliament for the Atiwa East constituency in the Eastern Region since January 7, 2013. Osei-Asare is currently a Board Member of the Parliamentary Service Board and serves on the Finance Committee as well as the Employment, Social Welfare, and State Enterprises Committee. Before entering Parliament, she worked as the Assistant Director for New York University in Ghana from 2004 to 2007.

Additionally, she served as a customer team leader in the Treasury Department of Barclays Bank Ghana Limited from 2007 to 2009. Osei-Asare is married with three children and runs an NGO called “The Waterbrooke Foundation,” which aims to support brilliant but needy students with their education.

Dr. Alexander Ampaabeng is based in Accra and is an integral part of the legal and economic team for the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) Ghana program. He has an impressive 17 years of experience and expertise in accounting, finance, fiscal policy, and economics.

Prior to joining NRGI, Ampaabeng worked as a finance officer at NHS England.

He then taught economics, accounting, and finance modules at several universities in the UK, including Birmingham City University, the University of Coventry, the University of Warwick, and the University of Birmingham. Ampaabeng also served as a fiscal policy specialist for Oxfam in Ghana, where he collaborated closely with the Ministry of Finance on tax and fiscal policy input for the annual national budget. He founded the ‘Tax Strategy Team’ and the ‘CSO Budget Forum’ at Oxfam to mobilize civil society organizations (CSOs) and engage the government in national tax policies and budget discussions.

Ampaabeng holds a Ph.D. in accounting and finance (specializing in taxation), an MBA in financial management, an MSc in accounting and finance, and a PGCE in business.

The appointments of Abena Osei-Asare and Dr. Alexander Ampaabeng reflect President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to assembling a talented and diverse team to drive economic growth and prosperity in Ghana.

-DGN online