Yale names Togbe Afede XIV chair of its global advisory body

Togbe Afede XIV earned his MBA from Yale’s School of Management in 1989. Now he is running its global advisory council.

The Yale School of Management announced March 7 that Togbe Afede XIV, the Agbogbomefia of the Asogli State in Ghana’s Volta Region, has been appointed chairman of the school’s Council of Global Advisors, effective Feb. 16, 2026. The appointment carries an initial three-year term, subject to renewal.

The council is made up of alumni and non-alumni leaders from around the world who advise the dean and the school’s senior leadership on how to expand Yale SOM’s international reach and institutional brand. As chairman, Togbe Afede will work directly with Dean Kerwin Charles, help set the council’s priorities, guide member engagement and oversee its overall direction. He will also serve as an ex-officio member of the wider SOM Board of Advisors.

Yale cited his “admirable leadership, experience, life and career” as the basis for the appointment. His role is expected to include contributing to student recruitment across regions, elevating awareness of Yale SOM’s mission globally and deepening partnerships with organisations worldwide.

The appointment closes a circle that started nearly four decades ago. Togbe Afede, born James Akpo on April 23, 1957, in Ho, Ghana, had tried to get into Wharton and Stanford in 1984 and 1985 but lacked the financial means to pursue those applications. Yale eventually offered him a fellowship and he graduated in 1989. That degree became the launchpad for a business career that has made him one of the most consequential figures in Ghana’s modern financial history.

After graduating, he returned to Ghana and co-founded Databank Financial Services, one of the country’s pioneering investment banking and brokerage firms, at a time when Ghana’s capital markets were barely functioning. He is credited with publishing the first-ever stock market indices in Ghana in 1991, a contribution that helped lay the groundwork for the country’s financial infrastructure. He later founded Strategic African Securities, known as SAS, which operates across stock brokerage, corporate finance advisory and asset management.

His business interests run wide. He co-founded Sunon Asogli Power Ghana, an independent power producer that has played a key role in electricity generation in Ghana. He co-founded Africa World Airlines, a domestic carrier that expanded air travel options within Ghana and the sub-region. He is executive chairman of the World Trade Centre Accra. He also controls Strategic Initiatives Ltd, a private equity and portfolio investment vehicle.

Beyond finance and energy, Togbe Afede is the majority shareholder and chairman of Accra Hearts of Oak Sporting Club, Ghana’s oldest and most storied football club. He has served on the board of the Bank of Ghana for a decade, and was a member of Ghana’s Presidential Economic Advisory Council from 2009 to 2012. His net worth is estimated at around $300 million, though the true figure across his portfolio of unlisted holdings is likely higher.

His ascension to the chairmanship of the Yale SOM global council puts a Ghanaian at the helm of an advisory body that shapes the strategic direction of one of America’s most prestigious Ivy League business schools, an institution that itself produced him.