Ashesi University has announced the appointment of Naa Akwetey as its new Chief Operating Officer (COO), marking a significant addition to the leadership team of one of Africa’s most respected higher education institutions. Naa brings with her a wealth of experience in operational strategy, finance, and scaling social impact solutions across the continent.
In her new role, Naa will oversee the operational functions that support Ashesi’s mission to educate ethical, entrepreneurial leaders for Africa. She will be responsible for leading and strengthening operations across Finance, Human Resources, Academic Registry, IT, Logistics, and Facilities.
Prior to joining Ashesi, Naa served as Chief Operating Officer at mPharma, a Ghana-headquartered health tech company that operates across eight African countries. During her time there, she led strategy and operations across the group and helped build out patient-centered and social impact initiatives at scale. Notably, she developed mPharma’s Market Access as a Service (MaaS) platform into Africa’s largest pharma access solution, delivering medication access programs in partnership with global pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Bayer, Sanofi, and Roche.
Her career at mPharma began as Head of Finance for West Africa, after which she quickly rose through the ranks to Global Head of Finance and then Senior Vice President of Strategy and Business Development. In that capacity, she oversaw the company’s geographic expansion, including market entries into Uganda and Ethiopia, and helped close a multi-million dollar acquisition in Nigeria that significantly expanded the company’s footprint.
Naa’s blend of financial acumen, strategic vision, and leadership in mission-driven enterprises positions her well to support Ashesi through its next phase of growth.
