11
Nana Akufo-Addo Biography: Free SHS, Ghana’s Economic Crisis and His Post-Presidency Election Missions
On 7 January 2025, Nana Akufo-Addo handed over Ghana’s presidency to John Mahama, the man he had twice defeated in earlier elections, completing his constitutionally mandated two terms. He did not retire from public life.
Within little over a year, he was crossing the continent as an international election observer, leading missions to the Republic of the Congo, Benin, and, on behalf of the Commonwealth, to Bangladesh.
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a Ghanaian lawyer and politician who served as the 13th President of Ghana from 2017 to 2025.
A three-time presidential candidate before finally winning office, he is best known for launching Ghana’s Free Senior High School policy, for leading the country through a severe economic crisis in the final years of his presidency, and for the peaceful transfer of power that marked his departure from office.
Profile
| Born | William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, 29 March 1944, Accra, Gold Coast (now Ghana) |
|---|---|
| Nationality | Ghanaian |
| Education | BSc Economics, University of Ghana; called to the English Bar (Middle Temple, 1971) and Ghanaian Bar (1975) |
| Occupation | Lawyer, politician |
| Party | New Patriotic Party |
| Known for | 13th President of Ghana (2017–2025); Free SHS policy; peaceful handover of power in 2025 |
| Spouse | Rebecca Akufo-Addo (married 1997) |
| Children | 5: four daughters and one stepdaughter |
Early Life, Family and Education
Akufo-Addo was born in Accra to Edward Akufo-Addo, who later served as Ghana’s third Chief Justice and as the country’s ceremonial president from 1970 to 1972, and Adeline Akufo-Addo.
His maternal grandfather, Nana Sir Ofori Atta, was King of Akyem Abuakwa, and his family includes several other figures prominent in Ghana’s independence movement.
He was educated in Accra before attending Lancing College in England, and briefly began a degree at New College, Oxford, before returning to Ghana to teach and later complete a BSc in Economics at the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1967.
He trained as a lawyer through England’s Inns of Court system, was called to the English Bar in 1971, and to the Ghanaian Bar in 1975, going on to co-found the law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. in 1979.
Legal Career and Early Politics
Akufo-Addo became politically active in the late 1970s, joining a movement opposing military rule, and in 1995 was among the organisers of the “Kume Preko” mass demonstrations against value-added tax and other policies of the Rawlings government.
He was elected to Parliament for the Abuakwa constituency in 1996 and served continuously, through its successor seat of Akim Abuakwa South, until 2009.
Under President John Kufuor, he served as Attorney General from 2001 to 2003 and as Minister of Foreign Affairs from 2003 to 2007.
Three Presidential Bids Before Victory
Akufo-Addo contested the presidency for the New Patriotic Party three times before winning. In 2008, he narrowly missed an outright first-round win against John Atta Mills and lost the runoff.
In 2012, he lost again, to John Mahama, and mounted a legal challenge to the result; the Supreme Court of Ghana upheld Mahama’s victory in a narrow 5–4 decision in 2013, which Akufo-Addo accepted.
Winning the Presidency in 2016
Akufo-Addo won the NPP’s presidential nomination for a third time in 2016 and defeated the incumbent Mahama in the first round with 53.85% of the vote, the first time an opposition candidate had won an outright first-round majority in Ghanaian presidential history. He was sworn in on 7 January 2017.
The 2017 Inauguration Plagiarism Controversy
Shortly after his inauguration, Akufo-Addo faced criticism after it emerged that parts of his inaugural address had been lifted, in some cases word for word, from previous speeches by U.S. presidents John F. Kennedy, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush, as well as from remarks by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari.
His press office issued an apology, with his communications director describing the episode as a “complete oversight and never deliberate.”
It later emerged that portions of a 2013 concession speech he had given, after the Supreme Court upheld Mahama’s 2012 election win, had also been drawn from Al Gore’s 2000 U.S. presidential concession speech.
Free Senior High School and Domestic Policy
In September 2017, Akufo-Addo launched the Free Senior High School (Free SHS) policy, eliminating school fees for public secondary education, which he described as a necessary investment in the country’s workforce.
The policy proved broadly popular, though private schools raised concerns about falling enrolment, and the government later pointed to improved national exam results in 2022 as evidence of its impact. In 2019, his administration increased the number of Ghana’s administrative regions from ten to sixteen.
His government also oversaw Ghana’s hosting of the 2024 African Games and took a relatively moderate public stance on LGBT rights, stating in 2017 that legal change was likely eventually but ruling out legalising same-sex marriage during his tenure.
Ghana’s Economic Crisis
The later years of Akufo-Addo’s presidency were dominated by a severe economic downturn, with inflation reaching around 40% in both 2022 and 2023 and the government seeking a further bailout from the International Monetary Fund.
His administration attributed the crisis primarily to the COVID-19 pandemic and the economic fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine; independent analysts, including reporting by the Financial Times and Foreign Policy, pointed instead to years of continued government borrowing despite earlier IMF warnings, which pushed Ghana’s public debt from around 56% to 63% of GDP even before the pandemic began.
A Second Term and a Peaceful Handover
Akufo-Addo won re-election on 9 December 2020 with 51.59% of the vote, again defeating Mahama in a single round.
In December 2021, he publicly pledged to respect Ghana’s constitutional two-term limit and not seek a third term.
With the NPP’s popularity weakened by the economic crisis, the party lost the 2024 election to Mahama, and Akufo-Addo peacefully transferred power on 7 January 2025.
Post-Presidency: International Election Observation
Since leaving office, Akufo-Addo has taken on a series of international election observation roles. He led the African Union’s Election Observation Mission to the Republic of the Congo ahead of that country’s 15 March 2026 presidential election, and was subsequently appointed to lead the ECOWAS observation mission for Benin’s presidential election that April.
In January 2026, the Commonwealth announced he would chair its 14-member Observer Group monitoring Bangladesh’s 13th parliamentary elections and a referendum on the “July Charter” reform framework, both held on 12 February 2026; the group later published its final report describing the polls as a “democratic milestone.”
Separately, in March 2026, he was installed as an Honorary Lay Canon of the Anglican Diocese of Koforidua in Ghana, and in April 2026 he was honoured by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, with a commemorative gold coin at the monarch’s 27th enstoolment anniversary gala, in recognition of his role in resolving chieftaincy and land disputes.
Offices Held
| Position | Dates |
|---|---|
| Member of Parliament for Abuakwa / Akim Abuakwa South | 1997–2009 |
| Attorney General of Ghana | 2001–2003 |
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | 2003–2007 |
| Chair, Economic Community of West African States | 2020–2022 |
| President of Ghana | 2017–2025 |
Personal Life
Akufo-Addo has been married three times. His first marriage, to Nigerian Remi Fani-Kayode, ended in divorce; his second, to Eleanor Nkansah-Gyamenah, ended with her death in 1993.
He has been married to Rebecca Akufo-Addo, daughter of a former Speaker of Ghana’s Parliament, since 1997. He has four daughters and a stepdaughter. A teetotaller, he has described himself as a supporter of Asante Kotoko, Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur.
Sources
- Wikipedia — Nana Akufo-Addo
- Wikipedia — Presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo
- BBC News — Ghana’s Nana Akufo-Addo and Other Leaders Caught Up in Plagiarism Scandals
- Financial Times — How Ghana’s Economy Became a Cautionary Tale for Africa
- Foreign Policy — How Campaign Promises Crashed Ghana’s Economy
- ModernGhana / African Union — Nana Akufo-Addo to Lead AU Election Observation Mission to Republic of Congo
- Africanews — Ghana’s Ex-President Akufo-Addo to Lead ECOWAS Election Observation Mission to Benin
- The Commonwealth — Former Ghanaian President Nana Akufo-Addo to Lead Commonwealth Observer Group for Bangladesh Elections
- MyJoyOnline — Former President Akufo-Addo Takes on New Role in Anglican Church
Zeez is the editor and founder of BioOrbit, where he researches and writes biographies of public figures from Nigeria and around the world. With 5 years of experience writing about news, entertainment, sports and politics, Zeez focuses on verified facts, clear sourcing and regular updates. Found an error? Report a correction.
