Mr. Kwesi Bekoe Amissah-Arthur, 63, holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in 1974 and a Master of Science Degree in 1976, both in Economics from the University of Ghana. He wrote his thesis on “Public Policy and economic growth, a model of economic growth-Ghana” 1956-1974.

He was appointed the Vice President of Ghana from September 2012. Prior to this he was the Governor of the Bank of Ghana from 2009, and also a Deputy Minister for Finance from 1997 in charge of the preparation of the Annual Public Investment Program, Management of the budget of the Government of Ghana and managing the bilateral and multilateral assistance to Ghana.

Mr. Amissah-Arthur lectured at the Department of Economics at the University of Ghana between 1980 and 1988. Prior to this, he was a research assistant at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research between 1974 and 1975. He later joined the Economic Department of the University of Ghana as a teaching assistant from 1977 to 1978 going on to become an assistant lecturer in 1979. He was a lecturer at the Department of Economics, Anambra State College of Education, Awka, Anambra State, Nigeria between August 1981- July 1983).

Between 1983 and 1986, Amissah-Arthur served as a special assistant to the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) Secretary of Finance and Economic Planning, Dr Kwesi Botwey. He became Deputy Secretary for Finance in the PNDC government from February 1986 until March 1993. Mr Amissah-Arthur worked as a Consultant for the World Bank in the Gambia and also served as a consultant for the Netherlands government Education project in Ghana. Between 1988 and 2000, he worked as Senior Economist for the Sigma One Corporation in Ghana and between 2001 and 2002 he was on assignment for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark.

He is married with two children.

Mr. Mamadou Diop, is an economist by training. After a period of time at a private bank, the International Bank for West Africa (BIAO), in Niger, he spent most of his career at the Central Bank of West African States (BCEAO). There he held senior executive positions, serving successively as the National Director for Niger and as Director of the Issuance, Accounting and Finance Department cumulatively with his functions as Special Advisor to the Governor.

He has also served as Secretary General of the West African Monetary Union (WAMU) Banking Commission, supranational body responsible for the supervision of banks and financial institutions in the WAMU Zone.

Given his long and abundant experience in monetary and financial affairs, Mr. Diop was appointed, in September 2011, to the post of Deputy Governor of the BCEAO.

Agnes Olatokunbo Martins, was born on April 7th 1963 in England, United Kingdom. She graduated with a Bachelors degree in Economics from the University of Lagos in 1983. After her National Youth Service Corps in 1984, she worked with the Federal Government Staff Housing Board until 1990 when she joined the Central Bank of Nigeria. In 1997, she obtained a Masters degree in Business Administration also from the University of Lagos. In 2001, she proceeded to the London South Bank University, United Kingdom to study Advanced Information Technology specialising in Object Oriented Analysis and Design and graduating with a Distinction. At the same time, she obtained a second bachelors degree in Applied Accounting with First Class Honours from the Oxford Brookes University, also in the United Kingdom.

Ms. Martins wrote the Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) exams of the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), USA in 2003 and qualified as the third highest scorer in Nigeria. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (FCA), an Associate of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (ACS), an Associate of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria and a Stockbroker/Authorised Clerk of the Nigerian Stock Exchange.

Ms. Martins worked for eighteen years as an Information Systems Auditor in the Internal Audit Department of the Bank which culminated in her heading the Information Systems Audit Division in Lagos. She has specific skills in auditing and security in Unix Operating System environments which led to her becoming Certified in Information Security Management (CISM) and Certified in Risk and Information Systems Controls (CRISC). In 2009 she was transferred to the Other Financial Institutions Supervision (OFIS) Department of the Central Bank of Nigeria, which is responsible for supervising Microfinance Banks, Primary Mortgage Institutions, Development Finance Institutions and Bureaux De Change.

She is the first female president of ISACA Lagos Chapter and was the only female and African member on the respected European Computer Audit, Controls and Security Task Force (EUROCACS) in 2010/ 2011. Her hobbies include reading, movies, music, and travelling. She is married and blessed with children.

Christian Durand, is currently deputy director general for economics and international affairs at the Banque de France, Member of the CGFS. Mr. Durand has held senior positions with the International Monetary Fund’s Monetary and Capital Markets Department, the FIRST initiative, the French Banking Commission and the French Securities and Futures Commission. He has worked extensively with financial institutions in France and other organizations, including the New York Federal Reserve Bank, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), the U.K. FSA, the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the AFRITAC initiative. His academic training is in economics (thesis on “the concept of money in the debates on capital, interest and fluctuations in the early thirties”), finance and law.

Through his different assignments he has developed a professional experience in central banking, international economics, financial supervision and financial sector development and stability issues. He has led or supervised the implementation of several technical assistance projects and conducted stability assessment missions in a wide range of countries or monetary unions, including in the context of the IMF/World Bank FSAP program.

Mr. Seth Terkper, is a Chartered Accountant who holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA) degree from the Kennedy School, Harvard University, and a first degree in Bachelor of Commerce (B.Comm.) from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana.

He was appointed the Minister for Finance in January 2013 having served as the Deputy Minister in the same Ministry from March 2009 to January 2013 working mainly on the Budget and Medium-Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) as well as on revenue policy and administration. Before that, between July 1999 and February 2009, Mr. Terkper held various positions (last as Senior Economist) in the Fiscal Affairs Dept. (FAD) of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Before joining the IMF, Mr. Terkper worked in staff and management positions—including National VAT Coordinator and Deputy Commissioner—in the National Revenue Secretariat (MOFEP) and revenue agencies in Ghana. He played a key role in the introduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ghana.

He consulted for the IMF; Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID), Harvard International Tax Program (ITP); African Development Bank [AfDB], and UN Committee of Tax Experts. He was a correspondent for Tax Analysts, USA.

In so doing, he worked with colleagues in the Tax Policy [TP] and other Divisions in FAD; the African and Legal departments; the Caribbean Technical Assistance Centre [CARTAC]; and other IMF units to achieve critical TA goals. As a chartered accountant and public administrator, he follows fiscal, accounting, and other economic trends closely.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ghana (BOG) and chaired the joint Steering Committee of the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and Ghana Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) reforms.

Mr. Terkper has been part of—and participated in leadership positions in—local government social, religious, and student bodies.

Mr. Terkper published a book on VAT (VAT Handbook by Thompson-Reuters) in 2011 and continues to maintain a keen interest in research, publications, reviews and teaching. He promotes a team effort and uses leadership and motivational skills to achieve challenging goals.

Paul Noumba-Um, is Sector Manager for Financial and Private Sector Development for Western and Central Africa Unit in the World Bank since 2010. He manages a portfolio of about $1 billion of projects across 23 countries in Western and Central Africa with a team of 35 professionals. His Unit delivers lending and non lending activities in the area of financial and private sector development - including flagship PPP projects in Nigeria and Ghana; a $300 million housing finance development project in Nigeria and Growth poles projects in Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo and Senegal.

Paul joined the World Bank in 1998 as a Policy Specialist in the then Global ICT Department, a joint department of the IFC and the World Bank. Since, he has held several positions including Program Manager of the Public-Private Partnerships in Infrastructure Practice in the World Bank Institute from 2003 to 2007; and Lead Economist in the Office of the Director of the Sustainable Development Department in the Middle East and North Africa Region from 2007 to 2010. Prior to joining the World Bank, Paul worked as a senior Economist in an Orange Labs in France and taught regulatory economics at a French Grande Ecoles from 1992 to 1998. He also held the position of Head of Economic Unit in the Ministry of Communications, while working for the Cameroonian government from 1987 to 1992.

Paul is a native of Cameroon and holds a PhD in Economics and Masters in Engineering and Economics from French Grandes Ecoles and Universities. He has contributed to several books on Infrastructure Regulation and PPPs and published articles in peer reviewed journals.

Yu Wen joined China Eximbank in 2000, headquartered in Beijing. The bank is a state bank solely owned by the Chinese government and under the direct leadership of the State Council. Up to now, the Bank had 21 domestic business branches and three overseas representative offices. It has established correspondent banking relationship with more than 1,000 banks.

The Bank’s main mandate is to facilitate the export and import of Chinese mechanical and electronic products, complete sets of equipment and new and high-tech products, assist Chinese companies with comparative advantages in their offshore project contracting and outbound investment, and promote international economic and trade cooperation globally.

As Assistant General Manager in the Corporate Banking Department of the Bank, Yu Wen works closely with Chinese enterprises for their transactions in Asia, Latin America, Africa and Europe. She worked in a commercial bank and a foreign bank before joining the Export and Import Bank of China.

Ato Gyasi, has an extensive track-record in recourse and limited/non-recourse financing and advisory of infrastructure-related assets across Africa. His sector experience includes public private partnerships (power, road, rail), telecommunications, industrials and export credit agency-backed transactions.

Specific transactions he has been involved in include the expansion of Tema Port in Ghana, the upgrade of Tongaat Hulett’s Sugar Mill in Mozambique, upgrade of various roads in Tanzania, expansion of Ghana Grid Company's transmission network, the refinancing of the Cahora Bassa Hydroelectric Dam in Mozambique, and the upgrade of Vodacom’s network in Tanzania. Additionally, Ato has been involved in various award winning transactions including, the Lekki-Epe Expressway toll road in Nigeria, Eskom’s Kusile Power Plant in South Africa and the Angola Domestic Submarine Cable in Angola.

Ato Gyasi has a background in Civil Engineering and prior to joining RMB, spent a number of years with a major South African construction firm and has design, construction and project-management experience in various countries in Africa.

Dr. Henry Kofi Wampah, Governor of the Bank of Ghana holds a PhD in Economics and a Masters degree from McGill University, Montreal, Canada, having obtained a first degree in Economics and Statistics from the University of Ghana in 1977. Prior to his appointment in April 2013, he was the 1st Deputy Governor and Director for Bank of Ghana since April 16, 2009.

Dr. Wampah started his working life at the Bank of Ghana in September 1986 as a Deputy Manager of the Bank before he went on to become the Head of the Research Department of the Bank. During this period he worked as a part-time staff with International Monetary Fund, Washington, DC as a Special Appointee from May to December 1998 and with the Monetary Operations Division of the Monetary and Exchange Affairs Department and the Africa Department.

In 2001, he left the Bank for an appointment as Director of the Research and Statistics Department at the West African Monetary Institute. At the institute he oversaw the planning and implementation of the Macroeconomic Convergence monitoring programme of the West African Monetary Zone.

He returned to the Bank of Ghana in April 2009 on his appointment as the first deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana and then as Acting Governor until he was confirmed as the substantive Governor in April 2013. He is currently the Chairman of Central Bank Governors in West Africa where he he coordinates the activities of central bank governors from five other countries namely Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Gambia, Liberia and Guinea.

Dr. Wampah is married and has six children.