K.Y. Amoako is president and founder of the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), a policy research and advisory institution based in Ghana focused on working with African governments to deliver long-term economic growth.
Previously he served as under secretary general of the UN and Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from 1995-2005. He created the African Development Forum, designed to sharpen debate and build consensus on key African development issues, and also played a key role in working with African leaders to formulate the underpinnings of NEPAD and the African Peer Review Mechanism. He served at the World Bank from 1974 to 1994, becoming one of the first Africans to rise to a senior position. After retiring from the UN, Mr. Amoako spent 2006 as a distinguished african scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
He has led or been a member of numerous high-level international commissions and task forces, including: the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa, convened by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan; the Commission for Africa established and chaired by former Prime Minister Tony Blair; and the Commission on Macroeconomics and Health chaired by Prof. Jeffrey Sachs. Mr. Amoako is a graduate of the University of Ghana at Legon and has a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California, Berkeley. He resides in Accra, Ghana and in Washington, DC, USA.
