Alan Kyerematen, the Trade Minister, has resigned.
Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, Minister of Trade and Industry, has resigned from his position.
This development was confirmed by sources close to the Minister to citinewsroom.com.
According to citinewsroom.com, the minister submitted his resignation letter to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday, January 5, 2023.
Although it is unclear why the Minister resigned from the Akufo-Addo government after serving in the portfolio since 2017, it is assumed that he did so to allow him to focus on his presidential ambitions.
The 67-year-old made his first attempt to lead the New Patriotic Party as its flagbearer in 2007 but failed in his bid as Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo emerged as the winner.
Mr. Kyerematen, also known as “Alan Cash,” attempted again in 2010 and 2014 but was unsuccessful.
Since 2018, he has led the government’s One District One Factory initiative, which has resulted in the establishment of approximately 170 factories across the country.
Under Mr. Kyerematen’s leadership at the Trade Ministry, the country also saw auto giants such as Suzuki, VW, Nissan, and Sino Trucks, among others, produce local vehicles under the Automotive Development Policy.
Alan Kyeremanten’s Bio
Alan Kyerematen held the same position from 2003 to 2007.
He has a long and distinguished career in international trade and public policy, business development, politics, and diplomacy.
He is a former Ambassador to the United States, a United Nations Policy Advisor, a lawyer, and a Senior Corporate Executive. From 2003 to 2007, he served as Ghana’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Presidential Special Initiatives, where he oversaw the design, development, and implementation of innovative programs and special interventions that have become new strategic pillars of growth for the Ghanaian economy.
He was also instrumental in shaping Africa’s trade policy agenda at the World Trade Organization, the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Negotiations, AGOA, and UNCTAD.
Mr. Kyerematen served as Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States of America from 2001 to 2003 before being appointed Minister. In that capacity, he negotiated a number of landmark trade and investment treaties between Ghana and the United States, as well as spearheading the formation of the Ghana-United States Economic Council, which played a key role in deepening trade relations between the two countries. Alan Kyerematen was the first Regional Director of UNDP’s flagship initiative for the development and promotion of small and medium-sized businesses in Africa, ENTERPRISE AFRICA, from 1998 to 2001. He established enterprise support programs in 13 Sub-Saharan African countries under that framework: Botswana, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. Over 4,000 African entrepreneurs and small businesses have benefited from these programmes.
Alan Kyerematen was in charge of establishing and managing Ghana’s EMPRETEC Programme, a leading business development institution sponsored by the United Nations and Barclays Bank Limited, in 1990. He was instrumental in transforming EMPRETEC from a UN project into an independent Foundation that is now recognized as a world-class institution and best practice model for African entrepreneurship development. As a Principal Consultant and Head of Public Systems Management with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI), Ghana’s leading management development institution, he managed a number of major private and public sector consulting assignments in Ghana between 1984 and 1990. Prior to this, he was a senior corporate executive with UAC Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever International, where he worked in various managerial positions with distinction between 1977-1984.
Alan Kyerematen led efforts to build capacity in various African countries in trade policy formulation and trade negotiations as the Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Abeba from July 2011 to December 2013. Furthermore, he was a key member of the African Union’s technical team that developed the Action Plan for the Establishment of an African Continental Free Trade Area.
Alan Kyerematen holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Ghana and a law degree from the Ghana Law School. In addition, he was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the University of Minnesota’s School of Public Affairs and School of Management as part of the US Fulbright Fellowship Program. He was a member of the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) Council of Governors in the United Kingdom, and he has also served on the boards of several other organizations in Ghana.
Mr. Kyerematen was named one of the top 100 Global Leaders for the New Millennium by Time International Magazine in 1994, alongside Bill Gates and John F. Kennedy Jr. of the United States of America. In 2013, the African Union’s Heads of State nominated him to be Africa’s candidate for the position of World Trade Organization Director General (WTO).
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