Ernest Addison

Dr. Ernest Kwamina Yedu Addison was appointed Governor of the Bank of Ghana in April 2017. He has over thirty years of experience working in the public sector for international institutions, governments and central banks, with a focus on economic development, country strategy papers, regional integration strategy papers, and more recently monetary policy formulation and implementation. As a career central banker, he had experience with issues on currency redenomination, HIPC debt relief negotiations, public policy on petroleum deregulation, petroleum pricing, wage/civil service reform, capital markets and macroeconomic surveillance issues. These experiences have helped to shape his competencies and enhanced his economic management skills. As Governor of the Bank of Ghana, through his decisive policy actions, inflation declined to single digits and was maintained at those levels for over three years until the COVID-19 disruptions. Under his leadership, the Bank undertook far reaching reforms of the financial sector with resolution of several universal banks other insolvent financial institutions.  These actions resulted in a stronger financial sector under a new regulatory regime for banks and Specialised Deposit-taking Institutions, stronger supervision and enforcement, an enhanced governance culture, and improved financial sector safety nets. This won him the Central Bank Governor of the year for Sub Sharan Africa in 2020 by Global Markets.  Addison’s desire to deepen financial inclusion led to the recent piloting of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), the e-Cedi project. He has recently co led Ghana’s discussions with the International Monetary Fund on Ghana’s economy and negotiations in debt restructuring for the Country under the G20 Common Framework for debt relief.

Addison is currently Co-Chair, Economic Policy Coordination Committee for Ghana; Chairman, Monetary Policy Committee and the Board of Directors of the Bank of Ghana; Chairman, Ghana International Bank London; Chairman, Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems Board; Member, Alliance for Financial Inclusion Board; former (2020) chair of the Board of Governors of the IMF and the World Bank and  the immediate past Co-Chair of FSB Regional Consultative Group for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Addison holds a doctorate with specialization in monetary economics and economic development from McGill University in Canada, a master’s degree in economics and politics from the University of Cambridge, and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Ghana.

Updated June, 2024