HISTORY

Center for Strategic and Defence Studies (CSDS) was incorporated on the 9th Day of November 2006 as the Institute of Risk Management (IRM). Headquartered in the bustling city of Accra, IRM was in 2016 renamed CSDS. CSDS is one of the few organizations in the world dedicated to the study of security risk management in its broadest sense.

GOVERNANCE

The Center is advised by a governing board with very diverse experience and expertise.

Ms. Esther Appiah

Ms. Appiah is a co-founder of CSDS Africa and its immediate past Ag. Executive Director. She is also a sitting member of the National Security Council. She served previously as Director of the Women and Juvenile Unit of the Ghana Police Service, Previous to that she was Head of the Special Investigations Unit, Fraud Unit and Homicide Unit of the Ghana Police Service among several others. She served as United Nations Lead Investigator in Eritrea, Bosnia, East Timor, Sudan, and Ethiopia. She is the author of the “Healing Balm” (2006). She is among others a member of the National Association of Retired Police Officers in Ghana.

Amb. Dr. William G.M. Brandful

Ambassador Dr. Brandful is a board member of CSDS Africa and a former High Commissioner of Ghana to Zambia. His previous diplomatic assignments were at the Embassy of Ghana in Bamako, Mali as Minister Plenipotentiary and Deputy Ambassador, with oversight responsibility for the Chancery and directly in charge of matters covering Political and Economic relations; Embassy of Ghana in Bonn, Federal Republic of Germany. Amb. Dr. Brandful is Chief Executive Officer at the Brandful Institute, specializing in investment promotion and diplomacy training.

Professor Robert Ebo Hinson

Professor Robert Ebo Hinson is is a board member of CSDS Africa. He is a Professor of Marketing and Head of the Department of Marketing & Entrepreneurship at the University of Ghana Business School. He is also Acting Director of Institutional Advancement at the University of Ghana and an Extraordinary Professor at the University of the North West University School of Business and Governance.

Dr. Ebenezer A. Denkyira

Dr. Ebenezer A. Denkyira is Board Chair of CSDS Africa and the immediate past Director-General of the Ghana Health Service and Fellow of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has also served as a board member of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and Advisory Member for the Global Alliance on Migration. He is a leading authority on public health security matters. He was educated at the University of Denmark and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. Dr. Ebenezer Appiah-Denkyira is the founder and Chief Executive Officer at Halo Family International and Dean of the Faculty of Health and Allied Sciences at Pentecost University College.

Christian Adu-Febri, CA

Mr. Adu-Febri is a board member and Ag. Chief Finance Officer of CSDS Africa. He has over 15 years in senior management positions involving accounting and financial management. He has also worked in all 3 sectors; Public Sector, Private Sec, and Not for Profit. Some of the organizations he has worked for include Air Liquide Ghana Ltd, National Systems Ltd, Alpha Offshore Drilling Services Company Ltd(Atwood Hunter), and Ghana China Foods Company Ltd (Tema Flour Mills).

Aborampah Mensah Paul

Mr. Mensah is a board member of CSDS Africa. He is also a Program Manager at CDD-Ghana. He holds an M.Phil in Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon. He also obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and Sociology from the same University. Since joining the Center in 2008, Mr. Aborampah has worked on several programs including the 2008 Elections Conflict Management Project, Media Literacy Project, and the Popular Perception on Independent Election Observers project. He is the program officer for the “Africa Power and Politics Program” (APPP) which measures local justice delivery and the effectiveness of the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) mechanism in Ghana and other African countries.Mr. Aborampah worked with the Electoral Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Education Service (GES), and the Political Science Department of the University of Ghana as a Teaching Assistant.

Nicole-Marie Poku, Esq.

Nicole-Marie is Board Secretary and Head of Corporate Affairs at CSDS Africa. She is also a senior associate of the law firm of Sory@Law with practice interest in corporate law, commercial law, intellectual property law, conveyancing, arbitration, and litigation. She has vast experience in corporate and commercial law having advised and served a diverse range of clients including multinationals, financial institutions, and universal banks. Nicole-Marie is also a contributor to Women, Business, and Law 2018, 2019 which is part of a series of biennial reports focusing on achieving gender equality through legal advocacy. She is part of a team that hosts international programs and drives legal and policy instruments in maritime, border, and cybersecurity among others.

Dr. Angela Lamptey

Dr. Angela M. Lamptey is a board member and Ag. Executive Director of CSDS Africa. Dr. Lamptey is a Lecturer at the Department of Marine and Fisheries Sciences, University of Ghana, Legon. She has a Ph.D. in Fisheries Science from the University of Ghana. Her research includes Fisheries Ecology, Fish Feedinginterests habits, Biodiversity studies (Seabirds and sea turtles), aquatic biotopes studies, and water quality studies. She is a reviewer to a number of international peer-reviewed journals and has also presented several peer-reviewed papers in conferences across.

International Advisory Board

  • Dr. Shawn Bridley (USA)
  • Dr. Fiifi Edu-Afful (Ghana)
  • Vice-Admiral Matthew Quarshie (UK)
  • Mr. Mak Chisthty (UK)
  • Mr. Choolun Bhojoo (Mauritius)
  • D/IGP Mr. James Oppong Boanuh (Ghana)
  • Ms. Filomena Maria Lopez (Guinea-Bissau)
  • Mr. Nicole Kerry Fanchatte (Seychelles)
  • Brig. Gen. Abdullah Ahmed (Nigeria)
  • Lt. Col. Maravan Mohammed (Egypt)
  • Mr. Ravi Darayanani (Ghana)
  • Mr. Foster Dogbe (Ghana)
  • Mr. Joseph Adu (USA)
  • Mr. Jude Kwame Osei (Switzerland)
  • Col. Cheikh Ahmed Tidane Thioune (Senegal)
  • Mr. Alphonso Samukai (Liberia)
  • Mr. Baffourba Worlanyo (Ghana)