THE BENCH
Aku Kwapong brings more than 20 years of strategy and operational experience from several Fortune 50 companies including Microsoft, GE Capital, Deutsche Bank and The Royal Bank of Scotland.
He served as COO with Royal Bank of Scotland, where he led the restructuring of its global Credit & ABS business. Until recently, he served as the head of strategy and new markets overseeing global credit electronic trading business, overseeing operational execution of strategy; including regulatory imperatives, risk management, implementing supervisory framework, and overall profitability of the EMEA Credit & Mortgage Markets
MBA, MIT Sloan School of Management, PhD –Columbia University, New York, NY BS & SM – Chemical Engineering, MIT
Vince Kwapong is a GE certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt with over 25 years’ experience delivering productivity improvement at fortune 50 companies.
Vincent’s previous roles included Global Operations Leader at Johnson & Johnson, Operations Leader at General Electric, and Director of Operations Excellence at United Technologies.
MBA, Finance & Strategy, University of Michigan Business School, Ann Arbor, MI MSE, Industrial & Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI MS, Metallurgical Engineering & Materials Science, Carnegie Mellon University BS, Electrical Engineering, MIT
Laila Owusu has over 20 years of experience in the Sales and Education fields. She has served in a variety of roles in operations, sales and employee development. She is passionate about communication, education, and the intersection of those 2 disciplines in driving employee engagements on projects, strategy and company culture. She is a Senior Director at The Practice School responsible for the Fierce and Relentless Program module for Workforce Performance Management. Until recently, she was a General Manager of Kayles Company Ltd an International Sales Company based in TX, USA. She is a co- founder and the current president of The X-Team, a nonprofit organization which champions the rights and promote the welfare of Under-Privileged children in the Ghanaian society. L. Owusu is a team player who encompasses strong leadership as well as great interpersonal skills with excellent communication skills.
Sheba has twenty years of combined experience in international business development and financial services. Her experience spans roles within the UK, Europe and Ghana.
She worked with Standard Chartered Bank, Ghana for several years where she headed the client coverage teams for multinational and para-statal clients following a stint at Guaranty Trust Bank in Ghana where she was responsible for a similar portfolio. Prior to this, she worked with Citibank in London for six years where she was Vice President within the firm’s corporate banking origination team initially covering European Chemical and Pharmaceutical clients, and then within the CEEMEA Trade Finance team responsible for the development and roll-out of trade solutions for the bank’s clients throughout Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa.
Prior to moving to Ghana, Sheba worked with Ramius Capital, a European Fund of Funds based in London where she was responsible for Institutional Client services. She started her business development career as an Associate with Philip Morris International based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Sheba holds a Bsc (Hons) in Pharmacology from King’s College, University of London and an MBA from INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France. She has a start-up venture to promote entrepreneurship amongst the youth of Ghana and is MGC for Women and Children
Kwaku Appiah-Adu is Professor of Strategy and Dean at Central University Business School. Previously, he was Head of Government’s Office of Policy Coordination, Monitoring and Evaluation, Chairman of Ghana’s Oil and Gas Technical Committee, member of the President’s Investors’ Advisory Council and Advisory Board for the UN Initiative on Continental Shelf Delineation. Earlier Kwaku was a project manager in the UK construction industry, overseeing the development of residential, industrial, retail and office projects. In consulting, he worked with PwC where he led the policy, strategy and management consulting team to drive strategic and operational transformation in Ghana’s banking, insurance, hospitality, media and education sectors, among others.
An author of several books and over 100 publications, Kwaku has researched extensively into industry/competitor analysis, corporate/competitive strategies, product/service innovation and customer/market orientation in the manufacturing and services industries. He has facilitated workshops in corporate and market strategies globally and been elected to the ANBAR Hall of Excellence for Outstanding Contribution to the Literature and Body of Knowledge.
MBA, Marketing & Finance, University of Cardiff Business School Cardiff, UK PhD – Strategy, Middlesex University, London, UK BSc & PG Dip – Architecture, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana
Emmanuel Owusu is a Finance professional and Analyst with demonstrable experience in areas of finance, investment, and accounting. He worked as a Tax and Pension Intern in the finance department of Unilever Ghana Limited and also engaged in consulting roles which included financial analysis and projections for startups to solicit funds from investors. During his college years, Emmanuel served as the Finance Director for the Ashesi Football Association where he and his team secured a sponsorship deal from Special Ice Company Ltd
BSc – Business Administration, Ashesi University , Ghana