Captain Prince Kofi Amoabeng Banking, financial services

Prince Kofi Amoabeng is the CEO of UT Bank and the President of UT Holdings. He is a retired military officer (Captain) and an investment consultant.

Amoabeng attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast, obtained a second class degree in Administration at the University of Ghana, Legon before entering the Ghana Military Academy, exiting as a lieutenant in 1975.

In 1982, six months after a military takeover of government, (now) Captain Amoabeng left the army as a result of his principled opposition to the coup.

He then went into business, engaging in ventures such as Opayesco Wood Processing Co Ltd, K K Power & Co Ltd, P. K. Amoabeng Enterprise Ltd, Schiewer Gh as well as Jam Haus, a consulting firm. He also worked for French oil company, Elf, handling its entry into the country.

UT Bank, his company, began life in 1997 as a savings and loans concern – Unique Trust – providing finance for traders and business people in need of short-term financing that they could not find anywhere else. A tireless innovator, Amaobeng pioneered 48-hour approvals for loans, convinced that long-drawn-out procedures are as harmful to businesses as the inability to raise the financing itself.

Under his leadership, Unique Trust went on to acquire subsidiaries, becoming UT Holdings and listing on the Ghana Stock Exchange. In 2008, UT Holdings acquired BPI Bank. In May 2009, UT Bank, now armed with a universal banking licence, began operations.

From a seed capital of 25,000 Ghana cedis and a three-man staff, the company has grown into a multinational business with over $55m in annual turnover and over 600 employees in 26 business offices in Ghana alone.

Amoabeng won the coveted PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Ghana’s Most Respected CEO award three consecutive times (2008, 2010 and 2012), He was named the Overall Best Entrepreneur in the 2011 Maiden Ghana Entrepreneurs Award and was considered the third-most-influential Ghanaian in 2012 as voted for by viewers of ETV Ghana, and was the joint finalist with his partner in the Ernst & Young West Africa Entrepreneur of the Year Award (2011).

Captain Amoabeng is a renowned philanthropist, supporting among others, Ghana Heart Foundation, Ghana Education Centre and orphanage students around the country. He is an avid golfer and Johnny Walker’s brand ambassador (Johnny Walker Giant). He is a divorcee.