Prince Kofi Amoabeng

Prince Kofi Amoabeng (born, 22 February, 1952) is a respected entrepreneur in Ghana. He is known for innovation, integrity, and social impact in the thirteenth-most populous country in Africa, and the second-most populous country in West Africa.

He forced a paradigm shift in the financial sector in Ghana by founding Unique Trust Financial Services with three employees and growing it into a robust holding company, UT Holdings, with several subsidiaries both locally as well.

After listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange with a market capitalization of 90 million USD, UT Financial Services Limited bought a foreign-owned bank and rebranded it as UT Bank. Through resolute leadership and ingenuity, UT Bank grew rapidly and transformed the banking landscape with ground-breaking customer-oriented products and innovations.

The UT brand became a household name, transforming lives and winning several national awards along the way.  Amoabengi’s leadership was recognized with several honours including: the Order of the Star of the Volta, Officers’ Division; Marketing Man of The Year (Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana, 2006); Most Respected CEO (consecutively in 2008, 2010, 2012); Johnnie Walker Giant (global “Walk With Giants’ campaign, 2012); and profiled in the work of celebrated journalist Moky Makura, “Africa’s Greatest Entrepreneurs”.

UT Bank’s licence was revoked in 2017 in what the Bank of Ghana referred to as the “Banking Sector Clean-up Exercise”. However, the celebrated CEO remains active in business and social circles, and is known for his philanthropic work.

The reverses that Amoabeng has suffered and survived in his career have strengthened his unwavering belief that Ghana in particular and Africa in general, needs entrepreneurs, be it corporate or social, who can rewrite the African narrative through ingenuity anchored on a resolute and honest leadership.

His steely determination stems from his background where he earned his spurs through sheer hard work.  He started his schooling at Penworth Preparatory School, a boarding school in Accra, the capital of Ghana. He had his secondary education at the St. Peter’s Senior High School at Nkwatia Kwahu and Adisadel College in Cape Coast Ghana before proceeding to the University of Ghana for his undergraduate degree. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in administration in 1975 from the University of Ghana Business School before winning a scholarship to the Defence Ministry and then joining the military, albeit briefly.

Amoabeng went on to secure professional qualifications as an accountant. This ultimately was his true calling.