GOC appoints Chris Essilfie Chef de Mission for Rio 2016

The Ghana Olympic Committee has appointed Chris Essilfie as its Chef de Mission for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games.
Essilfie, Ghana’s Chef de Mission at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, is credited with organising one of the country’s most successful pre-Games camps in South Ayrshire, Scotland.
With less than three months to the Games in Glasgow, Essilfie led discussions on securing pre-Games training site for Team Ghana, funding and the selection of an authorised ticket reseller, and Games ticket.
He is currently a member of the GOC's Executive Board and former vice-president of the Ghana Taekwondo Association.
Essilfie, a management consultant with specialty in business transformation and strategy implementation, has over twenty three years of experience and was educated at the University of Leicester in England and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana. He worked in London for several years in financial services.
Among other things, his role will include securing a pre-Games training site for Ghana's team, leading discussions on how to fund the team and the selection of an authorised ticket reseller, and Games ticket for the Rio Games.

GOC Secretary General Richard Akpokavie commented,
“I’m delighted that the Board has approved Chris’ appointment. We were highly impressed with Mr. Essilfie’s organisational skills before, during and after the Glasgow Games despite his late appointment. Team Ghana needs the right support team to provide a powerful foundation for the athletes. The Board has confidence and that is exactly what Chris will deliver. ”
Rio 2016 Chef De Mission Chris Essilfie commented,
“It is an honour to be given another opportunity to serve Ghana. Unlike my last appointment (Glasgow Games), we will have enough time to adequately prepare for Rio. In that respect, we hope to collaborate with the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the National Sports Authority to prepare Team Ghana for what is billed to be one of the biggest sporting events in history.



Below is Mr. Chris Essilfie’s profile:
Chris Essilfie is the Executive Director of IBS Consulting Alliance, a business strategy and management consulting firm in Accra. He is also the Director of Strategy at the Ghana Chamber of Oil & Gas.
Chris is an accomplished consultant with over twenty three years of corporate, consulting and academia experience in Ghana and the United Kingdom.
His many years of corporate experience traversed a number of cross-functional assignments.
Prior to setting up his current practice, he had had a number of years of his consulting experience in the United Kingdom, working as a financial advisor at an investment management consulting firm and as a project management consultant at a project development management consulting firm where he led project teams to successfully execute projects in the United Kingdom.
Mr. Essilfie has worked with several boards, senior management and management teams to restructure and turnaround many underperforming companies in the country.
Mr. Essilfie is a United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) certified consultant with a BSC degree in Chemical Engineering, MBA in Finance and a professional diploma in Financial Modeling and Project Management.
He is an executive board member of the Ghana Olympic Committee and the immediate past Vice President of the Ghana Taekwondo Association.
He currently chairs the Strategy Development, HR and Restructuring and Fundraising committees at GOC, and serves on the Finance committee of the GOC.