I have spent the last thirty-eight years working in United Nations system organizations that are focused on negotiations around issues of global security, Article VII of the UN Charter, and the application of science and technology for the socioeconomic development of developing countries.
I was the representative of the Director General (DG) of the International Atomic Agency (IAEA) to the UN in New York when the Iraq nuclear crisis was before the UN Security Council, and during the transition from UNSCOM to UNMOVIC. IAEA was part of the UN inspection team and had the nuclear file, and I represented the Agency at the Council. Following this, I was based in Vienna for ten years as the Secretary of the Board of Governors (BoG) and the General Conference (GC), which were also tasked with the Iraq file.
In 2003, Iran’s clandestine nuclear programme came to the attention of the international community. As the Secretary of the BoG, I managed the debates and discussions in the BoG and the GC, as well as the reports, decisions and resolutions they adopted, until the end of 2010.
From January2011 to June 2015, I held the post of IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Technical Cooperation (DDG-TC). I managed the provision of very concrete support to developing countries in the peaceful application of nuclear science and technology. This work was delivered in the areas of agriculture and food security, health (cancer, nutrition, cardiovascular disease, etc.), environment and water management, and industrial applications. Projects were implemented in over 130 countries, with an annual budget of over €200 million and a staff of 250.
Prior to joining the IAEA, I worked with the UN and UNCTAD (UN Conference on Trade and Development) on the application of science and technology for the socioeconomic development of developing countries.
I am currently the Governor for Ghana on the thirty-five member IAEA Board of Governors, as well as the IAEA Director General’s Special Envoy on Cancer for Africa. I am also the Chairman of the Board of the Ghana Nuclear Power Institute, the body overseeing Ghana’s nuclear power development.
I have a BSc in Mechanical Engineering (summa cum laude) from Kwame Nkrumah University for Science and Technology, Ghana; an MSc in Solid State Physics from Princeton University; and a PhD in Metallurgy from Columbia University, New York.