Chairman of the Board of Societe General (SG), Mr. Kofi Ampim, will be addressing graduates as the keynote speaker at Ashesi’s 2015 Graduation Ceremony on 20th June 2015. Ampim, who also currently serves as a director of Total Oil (GH) ltd., and Chairman of Belstar Development LLC, will address the Class of 2015 and over a thousand guests at Ashesi’s 11th Graduation Ceremony.
A graduate of Pace University and the Lubin School of Business in New York, Ampim entered the financial industry as a commercial banker in 1970 and completed the Management Development Training Programme at Chase Manhattan Bank in New York. He rose to the position of branch manager of the United Nations branch of Chase Manhattan Bank, in New York before resigning in 1978 to establish Pan African Resources Development Company Ltd which is a private international trade, finance and business consultancy, concentrating in Africa.
From 1980 to 1984, Mr. Ampim was appointed a financial consultant on Africa by Bear Sterns and Co. Ltd, a leading American investment banking firm in New York at the time. In this capacity, Mr. Ampim arranged and worked on over one billion US Dollars worth of private placements and syndications with Central Bank of Nigeria as the main principal client.
From 1980 to 1984, Mr. Ampim was also appointed Overseas Purchasing Agent and Investment Representative for Niger state of Nigeria to promote trade and investment from America to Nigeria. He also provided financial investment, trade and business development service to E.F Hutton of New York, Vander Elst Investment Banking and Stock Brokerage Firm in Belgium, Lazard Brothers of London, Banque Indosuez, Bank Nationale de Paris, Union Bank of Switzerland, Deutshe Bank, various African governments’ Central Banks and other international financial institutions conducting business in Africa.
In 1996 Mr. Ampim and Societe Generale arranged a 100 million USD oil import facility for the government of Ghana. In 2004 Societe Generale and Mr. Ampim served as transaction advisors to the government of Ghana for the public merger of Ashanti Goldfields and AngloGold of South Africa, which was valued at 1.4 billion USD.
As a leading business figure in Ghana, Ampim is an inspiring role model for the Class of 2015. Over hundred members of the class will be receiving degrees in Computer Science, Business Administration and Management Information Systems. The Vice Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast will preside over the ceremony.