The vice-chancellor of the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Professor Abednego Feehi Okoe Amartey, has been adjudged the CEO of the Year 2021, in the education sector at the maiden Ghana CEO Vision Awards, held at the Kempinski Hotel in Accra.
The highly respected vice chancellor was recognised for his visionary leadership, service orientation, and the work he’s done to improve the institutional efficiency of the UPSA since he took over in January 2017, which has positioned the university as a highly recognised brand locally and internationally.
Professor Amartey has extensive curriculum development and teaching experience in Marketing, Management, and Entrepreneurship. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing, Ghana (CIMG), and has served on many distinguished past board and committees in the university and outside the university.
He has also, through his innovative and student-centred approach to higher education management, overseen the rise in the students’ population from 11,500 in 2017, to more than 20,000 in 2021, as well as the introduction of over 13 new academic programmes – representing more than a 50 percent increase in the total academic offering since his appointment in 2017.
Project Lead for the awards, Latif Abubakar, indicated that the aim is to recognise and reward leadership excellence across all industry and business sectors in Ghana, while celebrating achievement, innovation and leadership brilliance within the business environment of Ghana.
“The project also seeks to provide a thriving platform for CEOs to stay connected, stay relevant, stay ahead of the game and be celebrated, while creating opportunities and celebrating visionaries.
“The objective is to pitch Ghana to the world, and this time around we are using more of the private sector CEOs to sell Ghana through each business sector; so, we have a CEO representing the mining sector, oil & gas, education sector, and others,” he said.
In addition, he reiterated that these CEOs are going to pitch Ghana to the world through a documentary that will be recorded, wherein they will share their experience and vision while selling their industry, and that will be shown across the world on various platforms
The Ghana CEO Awards seek to reward exceptional leaders who are making significant impacts in their respective industries or sectors. It is aimed at recognising hardworking, dedicated, visionary, and inspiring Ghanaian CEOs over the period under review.
The vice chancellor expressed his heartfelt gratitude to the organisers of the awards for the recognition of his hard work and honour.
Some other award-winners on the night included Rev. Dr. Joyce Aryee (Lifetime Achievement Award); Patricia Obo-Nai, CEO of Vodafone Ghana (CEO of the Year – Private Sector); Dr. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid, CEO of the National Petroleum Authority (CSR Visionary of the Year); Ibrahim Mahama, Founder of Engineers & Planners (CEO Vision Entrepreneur of the Year); and Dr. Joseph Siaw Agyepong, CEO of Zoomlion Ghana Limited.
