Mr. Edward Ato Sarpong

Mr. Edward Ato Sarpong is an experienced Chartered Accountant, strategic thinker, exceptional finance brain, an authentic and agile business leader with extensive proven track record and deep understanding of finance, strategy, entrepreneurship and management. He is an astute and accomplished business leader with close to thirty years’ in diverse managerial functions, having excelled in leadership roles in the telecommunications, broadcasting, insurance and services sectors.

Prior to his appointment as Managing Director of the Agricultural Development Bank, Ato Sarpong served as Executive Director of Matured Leadership Consult, and a leadership consultant and business advisor. Ato Sarpong in recent years served as Executive Director for Invesco Limited, African Life Assurance Limited and a host of other companies. He was a board member of the Jospong Group of Companies, chairing the Finance and Strategy sub-committee of the board. He also served as the board chairman of JA Plant Pool, Amaris Terminal, Sino Construction, Appointed Time, Ignite Media Group and many other companies.

In his most recent public service role as Deputy Minister for Communications of the Republic of Ghana, a role he played between July 2014 and January 2017 [serving in the administration of His Excellency President John Dramani Mahama], Ato Sarpong provided strong leadership support to the sector minister in implementing policies and programmes that enhanced the telecommunications, broadcasting and media sectors of the economy.

Ato Sarpong was a founding staff and Senior Auditor at Ernst & Young Ghana (formerly Fiadjoe & Associates) and was involved in Business Planning, corporate re-engineering and auditing of several multinational companies including Goldfields Ghana, Golden Rule Resources Limited, Geomechanik, Construction Pioneers, Ghana Commercial Bank and British Airways.

Ato Sarpong also held several senior leadership positions within the telecommunications sector and played a major role in shaping the direction of internet service provision in Ghana and West Africa. He was the Chief Operating Officer at K-Net Limited between 2009 and 2011. Prior to that, he was the Regional Managing Director of Africa Online responsible for the group’s strategy and expansion initiatives in West Africa between 2008 and 2009. Before his elevation to the position of Regional Managing Director of Africa Online, Ato Sarpong was, for a decade, the Managing Director for Africa Online Ghana and during this period, he transformed and positioned the business as the lead, most viable and profitable internet and network Services Company in Ghana.

He was a two-term President of the Ghana Internet Service Providers Associations (GISPA) during the most turbulent times of the Internet revolution in Ghana. He led the Association’s negotiations with Government and Ghana Telecom on internet pricing that significantly brought international fiber prices down by 67%.

In his private consultancy, Ato Sarpong was instrumental in shaping several businesses, including TV3 (where he served as a Business Consultant and Director of Commercial and Operations). He also worked as a Business Consultant to the Multimedia Group Limited between 2012 and 2014, where he helped shape internal structures, guided strategic initiatives and led the company’s international and collaborative initiatives, creating a unified DTH platform across West Africa with K-Net Limited and SES New Skies. Ato Sarpong conceptualised and led the creation of the Ignite Media Group and was the driving force behind the reorganisation of Metro Television, where he also served as the Executive Director.

Ato Sarpong has global perspective and insights and posses’ superior communication, problem solving, deep business acumen and strong analytical skills. He has been successful in multicultural environments and is a proven leader at business transformation, value creation and sustainable growth. He is a firm believer in the potential of everyone and this belief finds practical expression in the manner, in which he works with people, always inspiring them to be the best versions of themselves.

He is the Author of three books – Eyewitness to Leadership, Living Beyond Today, and Appetite for Wealth.

Ato Sarpong holds a Global Executive Masters in Business Administration from the prestigious China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). He is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants, Ghana (ICAG) and an alumnus of the University of Professional Studies (UPSA), where he studied for his Professional Accountancy certifications. He holds an Executive Certificate in Leadership from Manchester Business School and is an alumnus of the Manchester Business School Leadership Development Programme.

Mr. Edward Ato Sarpong is married to Adjoa, and they are blessed with three children.