Akufo-Addo reappoints Elsie Awadzi as 2nd Deputy Governor of BoG

President Nana Akufo-Addo has reappointed the second deputy governor of Bank of Ghana, Mrs Elsie Addo Awadzi, for a second term, effective 14 February 2022.

Awadzi has over 25 years of professional experience working in various capacities in Ghana and internationally in law, finance, policy and regulatory reforms, financial sector regulation, sustainable development, and public financial management among others.

Role as second deputy governor

Awadzi was first appointed by Akufo-Addo as second deputy governor of the Bank of Ghana in February 2018.

Under the leadership of the governor Ernest Addison, she has oversight of the Bank of Ghana’s regulation and supervision of banks and other financial institutions, the macro-prudential function, and other key operational functions.

She is a member of the bank’s Board of Directors, a member of the statutory Monetary Policy Committee, and a member of Ghana’s Financial Stability Council, which has representation from financial regulatory authorities in Ghana and the Finance Ministry.

Other works

As a staunch advocate for inclusive and sustainable finance, she chairs the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI)’s Gender Inclusive Finance Committee, which provides thought leadership and guidance to the 100-member AFI network on the design and implementation of measures to close the gender gap in access to finance in developing countries.

She is also a member of the Expert Leaders Group on Women’s Financial Inclusion in the Digital Economy established by the Graça Machel Trust.

Work with IMF

Before her appointment as deputy governor in 2018, Awadzi was senior counsel of the Financial and Fiscal Law Unit of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)’s Legal Department for six years where she conducted financial sector stability assessments on G20 countries and provided technical assistance for the design and implementation of banking supervisory, resolution, and crisis management frameworks in a number of IMF member countries, among other things.

Before joining the IMF in 2012, Elsie was a Commissioner of Ghana’s Securities & Exchange Commission for six years, worked on key financial sector reforms in Ghana and abroad, and worked in private law practice and banking, among others.

Education

She holds an LL.M. degree (International Business and Economic Law) with distinction and a Certificate in W.T.O. Law from the Georgetown University Law Center (2012) where she was also a Fellow of the Institute of International Economic Law. She also holds an M.B.A. (Finance) Degree and an LL.B. Degree from the University of Ghana (2000 and 1993 respectively), and a post-graduate Qualifying Certificate to practice law from the Ghana School of Law (1995).