Andrews Kwame Pianim is a Ghanaian financier and former government official in the NPP government. He was CEO of New World Investments, a company he co-founded in 1995. After ten years as a

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although ...

, he made a 1996 bid to run for the presidency of Ghana on the ticket of the NPP but lost to the former President J.A. Kufuor.

Early life and family

Pianim attended

Achimota School Achimota School (Help:IPA/English, /ɑːtʃimoʊtɑː/ ), formerly Prince of Wales College and School at Achimota, later Achimota College, now nicknamed Motown, is a co-educational boarding school located at Achimota in Accra, Greater Accra Reg ...

for his secondary education. He received a B.A. Double Honours in

Economics Economics () is a behavioral science that studies the Production (economics), production, distribution (economics), distribution, and Consumption (economics), consumption of goods and services. Economics focuses on the behaviour and interac ...

and Political Science from the

University of New Brunswick The University of New Brunswick (UNB) is a public university with two primary campuses in Fredericton and Saint John, New Brunswick. It is the oldest English language, English-language university in Canada, and among the oldest public universiti ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

(1963) and M.A. in economics from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...

(1964), USA. Pianim married a

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

woman named Cornelia Pianim. Their youngest son Elkin Kwesi Pianim (born 1970), a

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

trained corporate financier, was married to media heiress Elisabeth Murdoch; Kwame Pianim has two grandchildren in common with

Rupert Murdoch Keith Rupert Murdoch ( ; born 11 March 1931) is an Australian - American retired business magnate, investor, and media mogul. Through his company News Corp, he is the owner of hundreds of List of assets owned by News Corp, local, national, a ...

, namely Cornelia and Anna Pianim.

Economic and finance career

As an

economist An economist is a professional and practitioner in the social sciences, social science discipline of economics. The individual may also study, develop, and apply theories and concepts from economics and write about economic policy. Within this ...

, his philosophy is multi-dimensional, but a consistent theme has been the essential incompatibility between the economic agenda of poor nations, or what ought to be their economic agenda, and the priorities of the

Bretton Woods system The Bretton Woods system of monetary management established the rules for commercial relations among 44 countries, including the United States, Canada, Western European countries, and Australia, after the 1944 Bretton Woods Agreement until the ...

. Pianim was chairman of the board at UBA Ghana from the bank's inception in Ghana in 2004 till 2014. He has been chairman of the board at Bayport Financial Services since 2002 and has also chaired the boards of Airtel Communications Ghana and e-Tranzact. He has also been school board chair at Ghana International School.

Politics

He was arrested with a group of soldiers including Sgt. Akata Pore on 23 November 1982 following the capture of part of Gondar Barracks,

Burma Camp Burma Camp is the headquarters of the Ghana Armed Forces and the Ghanaian Ministry of Defence. The camp is in Accra, Greater Accra, Ghana. It retains notoriety and fear from previous Ghanaian military regimes, when civilians who entered the camp ...

in an apparent abortive coup attempt. His attempts to contest the 1996 presidential elections on the ticket of the centre-right

New Patriotic Party The New Patriotic Party (NPP; ) is a Centre-right politics, centre-right and Liberal conservatism, liberal-conservative political party in Ghana. Since the democratisation of Ghana in 1992, it has been one of the two dominant parties in Ghanaian ...

were scuppered when the

Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...

ruled to uphold a controversial law preventing individuals convicted of treasonous acts from holding public office, even if such acts were committed during periods of unconstitutional rule. Following the Court's decision, he resigned from politics to focus on private activities within the realm of

development economics Development economics is a branch of economics that deals with economic aspects of the development process in low- and middle- income countries. Its focus is not only on methods of promoting economic development, economic growth and structural c ...

. Following an economic crisis in Ghana under the presidency of

Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo William Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo ( ; born 29 March 1944) is a Ghanaian politician who served as the 13th president of Ghana from January 2017 to January 2025. He previously served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2003 and as Minister for Fore ...

, he voiced his concerns about the direction of

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

activities in July 2023.

Recent activities

In 2001, he was appointed the chairman of the Public Utility Regulation Council (PURC) of Ghana, a high-level commission tasked with the responsibility of overseeing and regulating electricity and water utilities. He resigned in December 2007 as a result of differences with the then ruling NPP government of John A. Kufuor. He is the President of Old Achimotans Association.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pianim, Kwame Alumni of Achimota School Living people Ghanaian economists New Patriotic Party politicians People convicted of treason Ghanaian prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Ghana Year of birth missing (living people) Place of birth missing (living people) University of New Brunswick alumni Yale University alumni