16 young excelling and most promising influential professionals in Ghana

As part of the international youth day celebration, we researched promising young Ghanaian professionals who are most influential and excelling in leadership positions in their various fields of expertise assuring Ghanaians of a very bright future.

These outstanding professionals were selected from journalism, law, public health, education, business, medicine, football, music, film, academia, and religion. This exercise was conducted independently and none of the professionals had prior knowledge. The under-listed personalities were chosen in no particular order.

Shatta Wale

His professional excellence in music won him the Artiste of the Year at the 2015 Vodafone Ghana Music Awards for his best known single "Dancehall King", and has appeared in films such as Never Say Never, The trial of Shatta Wale and Shattered Lives. Having achieved street credibility in a fairly undeveloped Ghanaian dancehall genre at the time, he achieved popularity with his 2004 single, "Moko Hoo", which features Tinny.

Then known in the industry as Bandana, the song earned Him a Ghana Music Awards nomination. Thereafter, Bandana went missing in the music industry for nearly a decade until rebranding himself in 2013. He began releasing music under a new name, Shatta Wale, under his record label (Shatta Movement Records. In 2014, he peaked at number 38 on E.tv's "Top 100 Most Influential Ghanaian" Awards chart. He has since appeared on the chart each year. He was ranked "Most Influential Musician" on social media in 2017.

He won 8 awards at the 3Music Awards in 2019 and also the most awarded dancehall artist in Africa. He had the most packed concert in the history of Ghanaian music with his Reign Concert, being the only performer for that concert. Shatta Wale also featured on the compilation album of the Reggae Edition of The Tropical house Cruises to Jamaica.

On July 31, 2020, Shatta wale was featured in Beyonce's, Already music video as part of The Lion King: The Gift music album released in 2019 which climbed international charts and was nominated at the Grammy Awards. He is currently the most inspiring and influential personality in the music industry in Ghana.

Armah's 'Already' feature has become the talk of the entertainment world with pundits calling it the most popular rhythm on the Black is King visual album. Ghana's President, Nana Akufo-Addo, and other well-meaning Ghanaians have congratulated the musician for his success and for placing the country on the global stage.



3. Thomas Partey is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for Spanish club Atlético Madrid and the Ghana national team. He has emerged as one of Europe's most complete midfielders this season.

The Ghanaian is also an excellent ball-winner for a central midfielder that makes 2.49 successful tackles per 90 minutes, he is dribbled past just once on average per 90 minutes and his ball recovery numbers are top tier.

Undoubtedly the most capped Ghanaian in the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League campaign, Partey played all games in the Group Stages against Juventus, Locomotive Moscow, and Bayern Leverkusen. He was not substituted in the Group stages. The Ghanaian scored one of two goals against Locomotive Moscow in the first leg and was booked in that encounter.

Partey was instrumental in Atletico Madrid's triumph over defending champions, Liverpool. He saw 120 minutes of action in the 2nd leg against Liverpool where Simeone's men scored 3 unanswered goals in extra time to eliminate the Premier League champions.

The Ghanaian is also an excellent ball-winner for a central midfielder that makes 2.49 successful tackles per 90 minutes, he is dribbled past just once on average per 90 minutes and his ball recovery numbers are top tier.

Undoubtedly the most capped Ghanaian in the 2019/2020 UEFA Champions League campaign, Partey played all games in the Group Stages against Juventus, Locomotive Moscow, and Bayern Leverkusen. He was not substituted in the Group stages. The Ghanaian scored one of two goals against Locomotive Moscow in the first leg and was booked in that encounter.

Partey was instrumental in Atletico Madrid's triumph over defending champions, Liverpool. He saw 120 minutes of action in the 2nd leg against Liverpool where Simeone's men scored 3 unanswered goals in extra time to eliminate the Premier League champions.



Senyo Hosi

Senyo Hosi is the ?rst Chief Executive O?cer of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors. He is credited with developing the Chamber into a major representative, advocacy and lobby organisation in the Ghanaian petroleum industry.

He is a ?nance and economic policy analyst with management experience across varying industries including downstream petroleum, public policy management, and industry advocacy, ?nance, logistics, and commodity trading.

He is a renowned industry advocate and has been instrumental in the development of major policies in Ghana’s energy sector. Senyo Hosi in 2018 received the Osagyefo Young Leadership Award and in 2016, the Most Outstanding Oil and Gas Personality (Downstream). He serves on several corporate and public boards including the Private Enterprises Foundation (PEF), the Ghana Highways Authority (GHA) Legacy Bonds Limited (LBL), and NDK Capital Ltd.

Before joining the CBOD, he worked as the Group General Manager for Meridian Management and Investments and served as a Director at Eco Petroleum Limited. He holds an MBA in Finance and an MA in Economic Policy Management from the University of Ghana.

The CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Bulk Oil Distributors, Mr. Senyo Hosi is currently leading a private sector initiative to build Infectious Disease Centers in Ghana. Under his leadership, the first-ever Ghana infectious disease centre has been built in Accra in collaboration with the military and with funds from the Private Sector Fund.

Senyo is innovative, knowledgeable, and has a bright future ahead of him.



Yvonne Nelson

Yvonne Nelson is a professional Ghanaian actress, model, film producer, and entrepreneur. She has starred in several movies, including House of Gold (2013), Any Other Monday, In April, and Swings. She started her education at St. Martin De Porres School in Accra and later went to Aggrey Memorial Senior High School.

She had her tertiary education at Zenith University College and Central University, where she did a degree course in human resource management. Nelson, a former Miss Ghana contestant, bust onto the movie scene with big-screen roles in Princess Tyra and Playboy.

She delved into movie production in 2011. Her first production was the movie The Price, which was released that year. She also produced Single and Married in 2012 and House of Gold in 2013. The latter won Best Picture at the Ghana Movie Awards and Best Ghanaian Movie at the 2013 City People Entertainment Awards. Nelson founded the Yvonne Nelson Glaucoma Foundation in 2010 to help create awareness about the disease.

With support from other Ghanaian celebrities, she recorded an all-star charity single and shot a video to help educate people. She also shot a video to help educate people about glaucoma.

As a result of her philanthropic activities particularly in glaucoma, she was honoured by GoWoman Magazine and Printex for her foundation’s work and film career. Nelson together with other celebrities added more voices to the masses in protests against the energy crisis in her country. She led a peaceful vigil called DumsorMustStop on May 16, 2015.

The hashtag #dumsormuststop was used on social media to amplify the concerns of Ghanaians concerning the energy crisis. Yvonne Nelson was given a special award at the "MTN Heroes of Change" in recognition of her charity work in fighting glaucoma. Yvonne Nelson is hoping to begin her political career in 2024.



Kow Essuman

Kow Essuman is a professional international lawyer who specializes in corporate, commercial litigation, and arbitration. He is one of the lawyers of the President of the Republic of Ghana.

He is qualified to practise in three different jurisdictions – England and Wales, New York State, and Ghana. In 2009, Kow obtained a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) with Honors in International Mergers and Acquisitions and Financial Institutions, from Cornell University, one of the eight Ivy League institutions in the United States of America.

Kow was then admitted to the New York State Bar in January 2010 as an attorney and counsellor-at-law. Before he returned to Ghana, Kow worked as a Law Intern at the Cornell Legal Aid Clinic for five (5) months where he successfully represented indigent clients in the New York State Courts and as a Legal Consultant at Dolphine Solicitors, a busy high street law firm, where he appeared before the Tribunals on behalf of his clients.

He has also worked in several commercial law chambers including 3 Verulam Buildings and 3 Stone Buildings, both in London, U.K., and at the Royal Courts of Chambers advising litigants in person on the procedure.

He returned to Ghana in October 2010 and joined the DLA Piper firm, Reindorf Chambers as a foreign associate. While at Reindorf, Kow undertook various corporate and commercial work and conducted major due diligence on a telecommunications company. He took the Ghana Bar Exam and was admitted to the Ghana Bar in October 2011.

He joined Ghana’s leading law firm, Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah (“BELA”), after his admission to the Ghana Bar. He is a member of the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution practice group. Kow has gained a wealth of experience after joining BELA and has represented several prestigious corporate clients including mining firms, telecommunication companies, and real estate companies.

He was recently led in representing a billion-dollar hedge fund in New York to detain an Argentine Warship in Ghana because Argentina had defaulted on sovereign bonds. Kow works as an Investment Consultant for LAK Investment Consult, an investment consultancy that focuses on small and medium enterprises in Ghana.

Kow owns and runs a small laundry shop for students and the local community, Express Wash Limited, and a tech and media consultancy firm, Optimum Precision International Limited. In 2013, Kow was selected as a Global Shaper and is currently a member of the Accra Hub of the Global Shapers Community of the World Economic Forum. He serves on the Projects and Fundraising Committee of the Hub.

In June 2015, he was selected as one of 80 Africans to represent the Global Shapers Community at the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa.



Dr. Michael Boadi Nyamekye

Dr. Michael Boadi Nyamekye is the general overseer of The Makers House Chapel International in Accra Ghana. He is a consummate marketing expert, a trained pilot, preacher, teacher, and Christian leader.

Dr. Nyamekye has a strong academic background with several degrees including a Bachelor of Management Studies (BMS), MBA, MPhil in Marketing, Ph.D. in Business Administration, and a Ph.D. in Marketing.

Being in active pastoral ministry for over 23 years, Dr. Nyamekye has immense experience in managing both the spiritual and physical needs of diverse people. He started The Makers House Chapel International in 2013 and with a registered membership of over 4,000 within three years, the church has become one of the fastest-growing charismatic churches in Ghana.

With his focus on excellence and knowledge of corporate workings, the church has become an example of a well-run church institution and a reference point for service excellence and best practice.



Dr. DaCosta Aboagye

Dr. DaCosta Aboagye is the first Director of Health Promotion of the Ghana Health Service. He relocated to Ghana in December 2019 from the University of West London as a Cohort Leader of Public Health and Health Promotion.

In the United Kingdom, he was famous and influential in academia and politics, especially within the Ghanaian community.

He is an international consultant in the field of public health, health promotion, and healthcare financing. He is an accomplished Fellow of the Higher Education Academy of England and Wales and an astute leader with significant international experience and also an External Examiner for London Metropolitan University for Masters in Public Health Management, Health Economics, Epidemiology, Health Promotion, and Public Health.

Soon after his relocation to Ghana, the COVID -19 pandemic welcomed him with a huge task and a lot of expectations from Ghanaians. Being the youngest among the COVID-19 national response team, he has been in charge of risk communication and community engagement and has proved himself to be a big shot with in-depth knowledge in public health, health promotion, and health systems, serving as one of the strong pillars in the development and successful dissemination of COVID-19 safety protocols at a time when restrictions were being eased and leaders wanted a safe way to open businesses.

He also severed on the presidential subcommittee on school safety, a committee that successfully intervened to restore calm and order in senior high schools after reporting COVID-19 cases.

Da costa continues to exhibit exceptional leadership skills in public education especially on adherence to the safety protocols, stigmatisation, and community engagement and won the heart of many Ghanaians when he was spotted leading a team of his staff to embark on public education in several communities across the country especially in deprived areas like chorkor, its environs and some hot spots of COVID-19.

As an excellent communicator with charisma, internationally known and locally accepted, Dr. Da Costa was acknowledged for his COVID-19 effort by Charterhouse in their recent Vodafone Ghana Music Award dubbed Covid-19 Heroes.

Da Costa is very visible providing information on COVID -19 and has facilitated donations from the diaspora community to the Ministry of Health including Airway Kits from Diaspora African Forum(DAF) and Gradian Health System.

He is credited and featured in the National Communication Authority’s professional magazine and other media websites as leading a Covid-19 capacity building program for CEO's, staff and management of agencies including Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA), Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) and Private Newspapers Publishers Association of Ghana (PRINPAG), Vodafone Ghana, National Petroleum Authority, Ghana Free Zones Authority, Obaapa Development Foundation, National Sports Authority, Ghana Football Association, National Identification Authority and National communication Authority.



Nana Ama McBrown

Felicity Ama Agyemang known as Nana Ama McBrown, is a professional Ghanaian actress, TV presenter, and music writer. She rose to prominence for her role in television series Tentacles.

Later, she found mainstream success following her role in the Twi-language movie Asoreba.

In 2001, her first movie, That Day, was released, launching her career. In 2007, McBrown appeared in the movie Asoreba, co-starring Agya Koo and Mercy Aseidu. Since then, she has had roles in several movies. Nana Ama is the brand ambassador of Royal Drinks. She is the host of television cooking show McBrown Kitchen and entertainment talk show United Showbiz on UTV.

McBrown has acted in many movies and has several awards including Best/English Actress, Best Actress in Leading Role, Best Traditional movie, and Best Story at the 2011 Kumawood Awards. She also won the favourite Actress at the 2016 Ghana Movie Awards and Eurostar Best Dressed Female Celebrity on the red carpet at the 2016 Ghana Movie Awards. She won Golden Actress in a comedy movie with the movie SideChic Gang at the Golden Movie Awards this year.

The actress got applauds from Ghanaians when she built a 100-seater canteen/assembly hall for the Ashan Children's Village in the Ashanti Region to mark her daughter's birthday.



Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh

Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh is a Ghanaian business leader and the Regional General Manager for IBM Africa in charge of North, East, and West Africa. She is the former Country General Manager for Ghana.

She is the first female to become the country Director of IBM in Africa and the first African female to be appointed Regional General Manager. She has 20 years of extensive working experience in the financial services and technology industries in Africa and Europe.

In 2011 she joined IBM as the Territory Marketing Manager responsible for IBM West Africa. She later moved to Nairobi, Kenya as Strategy Leader for IBM's Central, East, and West Africa operations. Woman Rising ranked her among the Top 50 Corporate Women Leaders in Ghana for 2016.



Dr. Justice Yankson

Dr. Justice Yankson is the current General Secretary of the Ghana Medical Association. He is a practicing Medical Doctor and Lawyer (Attorney) and holds an MBA (Finance) from the University of Ghana Business School.

Dr. Yankson has vast experience in fund management (especially pension fund management) as well as investment, corporate law, and governance. Dr. Yankson is a product of St. Augustine's College - Cape Coast, University of Ghana, Legon, and the Ghana School of Law.

He is currently the Chairman of the Technical Committee and a Member of the Trustees of the Private Fund that delivered the 100-bed capacity, first-ever infectious disease hospital in the country.



Ivy Barley

Ivy Barley is a Self-taught Ghanaian coder. She made it extra cool and exciting to be Ghanaian when she landed a huge role at the tech giant, Microsoft in March of 2020.

The social entrepreneur and founder of "Developers in Vogue" who is championing for a much more inclusive world where African women will be interested in working in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) fields is also the second Ghanaian to join the company.

She is also listed as one of the 50 Most Influential Young People in Ghana.



Seth Kwame Boateng

Seth Kwame Boateng is a Senior Journalist with the Multimedia Group Limited in Ghana. He has received many awards in recognition of his outstanding performance in journalism.

His achievements include the Global Health Reporting Award 2017 and GJA Journalist of The Year for 2014. His 2016 Left to Rot documentary on the state of remand in Ghanaian Prisons is still fresh in the minds of viewers. He won the best reporter for the Human Rights Reporting Category and the West African journalist of the Year at the 2017 WAMECA.

Seth’s story “Next to Die” was adjudged the best report for the Health Reporting Category. A two-part documentary, Next to Die highlighted the critical issue of child mortality and maternal deaths in Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital in Kumasi, the second biggest city in Ghana.

On average, four babies were dying each day while about 100 women died on delivery beds annually in the hospital. The story resulted in the First Lady of Ghana, Multimedia Group Limited, other key institutions and individuals collaborating to raise over $2 Million to complete an ultra-modern maternity and mother and baby unit for the hospital.

Seth Kwame Boateng was inducted into the Ghana leadership hall of fame after winning four categories of the Ghana Leadership Awards. The award celebrates and recognises the most outstanding and exemplary leadership that positively impacts the development of Ghana and Africa.

15. Dr. Abdullah Hadi Mohammed is a specialist surgeon and physician at Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. He won the prestigious 2019 MT Shokunbi Prize in Neurosurgery in a graduation ceremony held in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.



Dr. Abdullah Hadi Mohammed

Dr. Hadi had distinctions in Pathology, Paediatrics, Obstetrics, and Gynaecology; obtained MSC Specialist Certificate in Neurosurgery from the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons, Canada between 1981 and 1986.

Dr. Abdullah is the only Ghanaian who graduated in Neurosurgery alongside other Ghanaian graduating fellows in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Ear, Nose, and Throat, among others at a Nigerian-dominated ceremony.

As the only graduating fellow who won a Prize in Neurosurgery, he surprisingly had the best dissertation in Neurosurgery to pass West Africa College of Surgeons' fellowship exams at the first attempt.

Hadi is an accomplished medical doctor and a specialist Neurosurgeon who corrects very delicate disorders — diagnosis and treatment of patients with injury or disorders of the brain, spinal cord, and spinal column and peripheral nerves. He is currently using his expertise to save many lives and his colleagues are very proud of his work.



Kenneth Gyamerah

Kenneth Gyamerah is an advocate for Quality Education with over 6 years of work experience in the education sector. He is a Chevening Scholar, Royal Commonwealth Society Associate Fellow, Global Youth Ambassador, and Alumnus of the YALI West Africa Programme.

He holds an MSc in Education (Policy and International Development) from the University of Bristol and a B.Ed from the University of Education Winneba Ghana. His research interests cut across teacher education, Education Policy, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, and comparative education.

Kenneth Gyamerah is a Senior High School teacher at Volo public school in northern Tongu, Ghana. He also campaigns for global education with the international charity Theirworld. Kenneth Gyamerah, an Education Advocate won the Leadership in Education Award 2017.

He was appointed the Chief Press Secretary to the President of the ECOWAS Youth Council and doubles as the National Organizing Secretary of the Organization of African Youth and the Coordinator of Governance of the Youth Alliance for Development Ghana, a youth-led organization committed to nurturing responsible citizens in Ghana.



Bernard Koku Avle

Bernard Koku Avle is a Ghanaian media personality, broadcast journalist, and public speaker. He is the current host of Citi FM's morning show ‘The Citi Breakfast Show’ and the host of the ‘Point of View Show’ on Citi TV.

Off-air, Bernard is the General Manager of Citi TV and Citi 97.3 FM one of Ghana’s most influential radio stations. He also moderates and facilitates local and international conferences occasionally. He is also a member of the governing council of the Global Marketing Network in Ghana.

As a founding director of iJourno Africa, he trains and creates opportunities for participants to practice citizen journalism and equip them with tools to cover local issues. Bernard Avle’s Citi Breakfast show has won several awards including, BBC Africa Radio Awards Interactive/Talk Show of the Year and Ghana Journalists Association (Best Radio Station (English) – 2018).

Currently, he is excelling in journalism and there is no doubt that Bernard is a young professional full of skills and knowledge with a very bright future ahead of him.