Mrs. Kosi Antwiwaa Yankey-Ayeh is the first female Chief Executive Officer to head the Ghana Enterprises Agency (GEA) ― formerly National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) ― an Agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) in mandated to strengthen and grow Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Ghana. She served as an Advisor on the Ministry of Finance’s Advisory Committee and is a Board Member at the Accra Digital Centre, and many other Committees.
Prior to this role, Kosi had years of work experience in the USA, Europe and West Africa. Her experiences range from working as a Consultant, Entrepreneur and a Banker at Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS. At Deutsche Bank in New York, she assisted in the establishment of the first multi-million-dollar microfinance fund set up by an investment bank.
Over the past decade, she founded a financial institution and an agro-food processing company. In 2011, she was selected as one of five finalists for the Women in Business Challenge held in the Netherlands.
As a Consultant, she successfully led the setup, strategic development and growth of various businesses, incubators and accelerators. These incubators have assisted MSMEs and entrepreneurs in Africa commercialize research, grow and receive funding. In 2014, an agribusiness incubator she setup was listed amongst the top ten to watch in Africa. She was also instrumental in implementing programs and projects for various partners, such as USAID, CIDA, JICA, AFdB, IFAD, the World Bank, international NGOs, governments and impact investors.
In the past seven years, she has raised over US$300 million dollars in funds. Some earmarked to develop entrepreneurial and acceleration programs to support entrepreneurs, the youth and MSMEs in Ghana. Her efforts have also resulted in an increase in GEA’s budget and funding streams by over 1000%.
Mrs. Yankey-Ayeh graduated from Harvard University, USA, with a Masters in Public Administration and Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government where she was a Mason Fellow. At Harvard, she received the 2016 excellence award for academic distinction and her contribution towards the Edward S. Mason Program and the School.
In 2019 she received a certificate for completing a two-year Regional Entrepreneurship and Acceleration Program (REAP) from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology - Sloan School of Management. She received her BA in Government from Wesleyan University, Connecticut, USA, and has a certificate in Market Access for Sustainable Development from Wageningen University, Netherlands.