Governor of the Bank of Ghana resigns

Sources close to Pulse Business say, the reasons behind his resignation are personal.

Former president John Mahama appointed Issahaku in April 2016.

However, Mahama was defeated in an election in December 2016, which created uncertainty over the governor's position under the new government of President Nana Akufo-Addo.

Under former President, John Mahama’s administration,Dr. Issahaku assumed office in April 2016 after his predecessor Dr. Henry Wampah resigned.

Dr. Issahaku’s administration was faced with rising inflation as well as instability of the cedi.

He has however been positive about the performance of the cedi, this he expressed to the media in his last monetary policy committee (MPC) press conference.

During that meeting he also announced a 200 basis point cut. This move resulted in the bank’s policy rate dropping from 25.5% to 23.5%

The drop was attributed to the decrease in inflationary trends among others.

“The Committee noted that underlying inflation pressures have eased considerably and inflation is projected to trend downwards the medium term target of 8 plus or minus 2 percent”.

The policy rate is the rate at which commercial banks borrow from the Bank of Ghana (BoG) for onward lending to their customers.

Dr. Issahaku is an International Development Economist with several years of experience in economic policy management and development. He has worked with reputable international and local institutions including the World Bank as a Senior Public Sector Specialist; the African Development Bank as a Principal

Governance Expert; the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa as a Development Management Officer; the Canadian International Development Agency as a Socio-Economic Advisor and Project Coordinator; and as a Senior Planning Analyst at the Ghana National Development Planning Commission.

Before his appointment as Governor of the Bank of Ghana, he was the Second Deputy Governor and Executive Board member with oversight responsibilities of nine departments including Economics, Statistics, Finance, Legal, Banking Supervision and Financial Stability. He is Chaired the Investment Management Committee of the Bank and a member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee.

He was previously the Chief Executive Officer of the Export Development and Agriculture Investment Fund, which he restructured and helped restore to operations before his appointment to the central bank in 2013.

Dr. Abdul-Nashiru Issahaku has a Doctorate in International Affairs and Development from Clark Atlanta University, MBA in Finance and Strategic Management from Maharishi University of Management, USA, and Bachelors in Business Administration from the International Islamic University, Malaysia. He has a certificate in Public Financial Management from Harvard University & Kennedy School, USA,

Dr. Issahaku has effectively managed and supervised complex projects of international proportions. He was the Task Manager for Gambia’s Economic Management Programme (2004 – 2009). He also spearheaded the Institutional Budget Support Programme for Tanzania (2005 – 2009).

The resigned governor loves writing and has authored several publications including his much-acclaimed research work on the “Political Economy of Economic Reforms in Ghana”, “Capacity Building for Good Governance and Poverty Reduction in Parliamentary Systems” and “Human Rights, Economic Development and Democracy”.

From the Royal Zambang family of Kunbungu in the northern region of Ghana, Dr. Issahaku started his education in Tamale and attended Tamale Secondary School where he obtained his GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ levels. He was a member of the school’s Debate Society and a Senior House Prefect. He was a known sportsman at the school and in the Northern Region where he was once the Table Tennis Champion. Dr. Issahaku is married and has four children.

On April 1, Dr Issahaku took office as BoG governor, after former governor, Dr Kofi Wampah, opted to go on early retirement.