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. Kosi spent majority of her career focusing on access to finance and agribusiness in Africa. She has worked with the Engineers Without Borders Canada (EWB)’s where she set up Mobile Buisness Clinic and helped develop a training program for agribusinesses in Africa. She was also the Founder and CEO of Nuba Foods and Commodities, an organisation which helped to bridge the gap between local farmers and industries in the West African sub-region by sourcing agricultural raw materials from smallholder farmers and supplying them to the industries. She also ensured that their activities focused on creating positive environmental and societal impact towards a sustainable development world.

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 Master’s in Public Administration and Public Policy from the John F. Kennedy School of Government. At Harvard she received the 2016 excellence award for academic distinction and distinguished contribution to the Edward S. Mason Program and the School. Kosi’s experiences range from working as a Banker at Deutsche Bank, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch and UBS.
Her leadership at NBSSI has helped to shape enterprise development in Ghana giving NBSSI a firm footing in MSME development and promotion. Her rich experience in microfinance and finance has helped to scale up activities of the Board (especially those in the rural areas with better access to business development services; appropriate technology and skills; and financial services) and directed needed resources.

She has a certificate from Wageningen University, Netherlands where she studied Market Access for Sustainable Development and a 2 year programme at MIT in Cambridge focusing on
Entrepreneurship and Business Acceleration. Currently, Mrs Yankey-Ayeh is a Member of the Ministry of Finance Advisory Committee, Accra Digital Centre, and a few others.