Professor Eric Osei Assibey, an expert in economics, has been appointed as a member of the newly inaugurated board of the Bank of Ghana Board. He is one of the 13 persons appointed to bring direction to the banking regulator. Over the years, Professor Osei Assibey has shared his vast economic and financial knowledge across local and international platforms and has contributed to shaping Ghana’s economic policy.
Who is Professor Eric Osei-Assibey?
He is an expert in the development of macroeconomic and fiscal policy concerns in Africa, banking, small business development, and international finance issues. Professor Eric Osei-Assibey holds a PhD in Development Economics from Nagoya University. He is a Post-Graduate Scholar at the Brown International Advanced Research Institute (BIARI) of the Brown University, USA, where he studied ‘Development and Inequality in the Global South. His vast economic and financial knowledge base granted him a position as an Associate Professor of Economics and Dean of International Programmes of the University of Ghana. He is also a Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Accra, and a Non-resident Research Fellow at the CEQ Institute, Tulane University, USA.`
He has written several publications that have found their way into numerous leading international publications. A man of sound economic judgment, he has consulted for many government agencies and international organizations, including the ministries of finance, trade, and industry, National Development Planning Agencies, Ghana Statistical Service, etc., and for development partners including UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA, the World Bank, ECOWAS Commission, GIZ, IFPRI, Oxfam, GOGIG (DFID), ActionAid, Compassion Inc., etc., as well as corporate firms such as the Pricewatercoopers (PwC) and commercial banks. He is a member of the International Banking, Economics, and Finance Association (IBEFA), USA, and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC) network, Kenya. Prof. Eric Osei-Assibey also serves on a number of boards within and outside the University of Ghana, which includes the Universal Merchant Bank (UMB)of Ghana and Callens Solutions Plc.
No stranger to accolades, Professor Osei-Assibey, chairs the National Technical Committee on Good Financial Grant Practice and is a member of the University of Ghana Superannuation Board as well as Legon Hall Council.
He is married with three gorgeous children.
Industry Developments & role of board of Bank of Ghana
It would be recalled that, between the period of 2015 and 2016, the Bank of Ghana conducted an asset quality review which revealed severe challenges with solvency, liquidity, and asset quality in Ghana’s banking industry.
To salvage the situation, the Government of Ghana in 2017 embarked on a mission to strengthen the financial system of the country through what is titled the “FINANCIAL SECTOR CLEAN UP”. The exercise ended up collapsing about 9 different banks, 23 different Savings and Loans companies, 386 different Microfinance companies, and 53 fund management institutions in the country.
One of the objectives of the clean-up exercise was to bring sanity to the financial sector by weeding out weak market players.
Four years after the cleanup, the country is still reeling under the effect of the exercise. The Bank of Ghana still has some work to do in building confidence in the financial system. The Bank additionally needs to consolidate any gains while easing any adverse effects from the cleanup.
The mandate requires the expertise of the persons appointed to the Board of which the Professor is a member.
