Deputy Minister for Finance, and New Patriotic Party (NPP) member of Parliament for Atiwa East constituency, in the Eastern Region, has been appointed by President Akufo-Addo as a Minister of State at the finance ministry.
Mrs Abena Osei-Asare takes up the role from Mohammed Amin Adam who has been appointed as the substantive Finance Minister following Ken Ofori-Atta’s exit from office on Wednesday, 14 February 2024 after serving in the space for 7 years and 2 months.
Dr Alexander Ampaabeng, the NPP 2024 parliamentary candidate for the Juaboso constituency in the Western North Region, has also been appointed as the deputy minister for finance. He comes to the role following the elevation of Abena Osei-Asare from the deputy ministerial position to a minister of state.
The appointments of Mr Abena Osei-Asare and Dr Alexander Ampaabeng are the latest reshuffle to be done by President Akufo-Addo following the biggest shake-up of his government on Valentine’s Day, 14 February 2024.
The new appointments have been communicated to the Speaker of Parliament Alban Somana Kingsford Bagbin by President Akufo-Addo and the two are expected to be vetted by Parliament’s appointments committee in the coming days.
Profile Osei-Asare
Mrs Osei-Asare is a Banker and Chartered Accountant. She has served as a member of Parliament for the Atiwa East constituency in the Eastern Region from 7 January 2013 to date.
In the House of Parliament, she currently serves as a Board Member of the Parliamentary Service Board and also on the Finance Committee, since January 2017, and Employment, Social Welfare, and State Enterprises from January 2013 to date. She also served on the Public Accounts Committee from January 2013 till January 2017.
Before entering Parliament, Abena Osei–Asare worked as the Assistant Director for the New York University in Ghana from 2004 to 2007 and also as a customer team leader from 2007 to 2009 as a sales dealer in the Treasury Department of Barclays Bank Ghana Limited.
Abena Osei–Asare is married with three children and she runs an NGO, “The Waterbrooke Foundation” which supports brilliant but needy students with their education.
Profile of Ampaabeng
Dr Alexander Ampaabeng is based in Accra and works with the legal and economic team to advance the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) Ghana program. Alex has 17 years of experience and knowledge in accounting, finance, fiscal policy, and economics.
He worked as a finance officer at NHS England before teaching economics, accounting, and finance modules at universities in the U.K., including Birmingham City University, the University of Coventry, the University of Warwick, and the University of Birmingham.
Before joining NRGI, Alex served as a fiscal policy specialist for Oxfam in Ghana, where he worked closely with Ghana’s Ministry of Finance providing tax and fiscal policy input to the country’s annual national budget.
He established the ‘Tax Strategy Team’ and the ‘CSO Budget Forum’ at Oxfam to mobilize civil society organizations (CSOs) and engage Ghana’s government in national tax policies and the country’s budget.
In 2018, he founded a weekly radio and national TV show, Ghana Tax Dialogue. Alex also worked on advancing Oxfam’s extractive sector work, producing research and analysis, annual contributions to the energy budget, and engaging policymakers on energy-related issues.
Alex has presented at high-level events organised by the UN, the IMF, the World Bank, OECD, and ECOWAS. He remains a key voice on the country’s tax, fiscal policy, and broader economic issues.
Alex holds a Ph.D. in accounting and finance (specializing in taxation), an M.B.A. in financial management, an M.Sc. in accounting and finance, and a PGCE in business.