Ekwow Spio-Garbrah Earns Recognition

Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah is one of our proud global faces today. When Spio-Garbrah arrived at the Center for International Studies in the fall of 1978, there was no doubt he knew what he wanted for a career. His father had been an Ambassador of Ghana to Tunisia, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Hungary under President Kwame Nkrumah, and two maternal Uncles had also been Ambassadors one to China and Israel, and the other as the first Gold Coast Commissioners to the UK even before Ghana’s independence. With a disciplinary approach to studies within the center which affords students a broad scope of specializations, his choice of a Master’s degree in International Affairs seemed to be a natural progression. Opting for the Administrative Studies option, he took courses in the Schools of Business Administration, Political Science and International Communication. It was in line with the multidisciplinary traditions of the center.

Having already proven to be a promising intellectual via his application to Ohio University, where he had been admitted to the Center for International Studies on a Graduate Assistantship, it was just a matter of time before he distinguished himself as a curious mind that was ready to take on his immediate challenges and the world ahead of him. Graduating at the top of his class in the Graduate School of Journalism and Communication from his alma mater, the University of Ghana, his application stood out throughout the selection process. His one year at the Center, under the tutelage of such professors as Mr. Harold Molineau, for his courses on International Relations and Mr. Kim, for his courses on International Organization, was most stimulating for both students and staff as he was very engaging. He also benefitted from the fatherly advice and guidance of Mr. Baker at the School of Communications, especially when it came time in May 1979 for Ekwow to intensify his job hunting. After Ekwow had posted more than 500 letters and resumes (in the pre-Internet era) to potential employers around the USA throughout the early part of 1979 without any success, it was Mr. Baker who guided him to send letters to the very largest public relations and advertising firms in New York City. Quite incredibly, the top five of the largest PR firms in the world at that time all invited Ekwow to interviews in August of 1979, after which within a week Ekwow landed a very prestigious job in the International Division with the s then largest global public relations firm, Hill and Knowlton, becoming its first and only African employee for many years. Subsequently, he held other positions at Southwestern Bell Corporation (which became SBC and now AT&T); and senior appointments at the World Bank Group in Washington and the African Bank Group in Abidjan. The Center for International Studies has been following his trails since he left the Center and Ohio University. No doubt he has been highly successful at all he has touched in his career. At the age of 40, he became Ghana’s youngest-ever ambassador to the United States and Mexico and worked assiduously helped improved relations between the United States and Ghana, including organizing a record-breaking 8-city investment tour of Ghana’s President Rawlings to the USA in October 1995, helping to cement the friendship between Presidents Rawlings and President Bill Clinton. Later as a Minister of Communication in Ghana, he facilitated the impressive visit of President Bill Clinton to Ghana. Subsequently, as Minister of Education, he engineered the successful reintroduction of the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Ghana in 1998, after a contentious and abortive attempt at its initial introduction in 1995. He is credited with the creation of the Ghana Education Trust Fund (GETFund) which is reputed to mobilize more than US$100 million each year for Ghana’s educational sector, providing a reliable source of funding to the sector and the first of its kind in the region. Today with an honorary doctorate degree awarded to him by Middlebury College in the USA, Dr. Spio-Garbrah heads the Commonwealth Telecommunication Organization, a 100-year-old partnership between governments, businesses and organizations to extend the provision and use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and services to meet the needs and aspirations of citizens and consumers within the Commonwealth and beyond. Just this January, he was elected as a vice-chairman of Ghana’s ruling party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC). Dr. Spio-Garbrah is a member of the board of directors of Telkom South Africa, and AngloGold Ashanti, and on the International Advisory Board of the African Press Organization (APO).

In an interview with Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah from his base in London to inform him about the Centers favorable consideration of his achievements after leaving the university, he had this to say about his time in Ohio and how those memories continue to influence his life. “On the advice of a previous OU student from Ghana, I arrived on OU campus during the first week of September 1978, when most other students were still enjoying their Labor Day weekend elsewhere. As a result of my early arrival, I had the opportunity to apply to a lot of vacant positions on campus that had been advertised on several notice boards. Although I was very prepared to work in the kitchens and cafeteria and to do any menial job in order to supplement my resources, I was fortunate to land a job later that very month of September as a Assistant in the Office of Legal Affairs, where I actually interviewed other students who had been accused by others of various infractions of the OU Disciplinary Code, and to impose various sanctions on them. More serious infractions were heard by a Disciplinary Committee, for which I and another Jamaican colleague prepared the necessary briefs for the Legal Officers. That job was quite interesting and enabled me to become an immediate member of the OU Credit Union for many years. At OU, I tried to be quite focused in my studies as I wanted to get quickly out of Ohio and into the world of work. I really didn’t like the cold winters and the snow, so although I knew there was a lot of partying going on around campus and on Main Street, I really didn’t get sucked into that lifestyle. I was delighted to graduate with mostly As, and a distinction in my Oral Exams. I hope international students at OU can continue to hold their heads high, contribute to all aspects of OU life, and graduate with good grades to make an impact in the larger world.” The Center for International Studies of the Ohio University is proud to be associated with Dr. Ekwow Spio-Garbrah. He is one of our proud global faces of today and we wish him well in all his future engagements.