Akwasi Opong-Fosu, the Board Chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, is quietly having conversations with key NDC stakeholders. He’s exploring whether he should throw his hat in the ring for a leadership position at the party’s National Congress in December. It’s not an announcement yet more like he’s testing the waters, talking to people about what the party needs going forward.
The NDC’s National Congress is coming up on December 19, 2026. That’s when they’ll elect their new National Executive Committee, following regional elections scheduled for November where regional leaders will be chosen.
From what Opong-Fosu has been saying, he’s spent the last couple of months out there listening. He’s been talking to party stakeholders about how to bring the NDC back to its roots, rebuild trust in the leadership, and give members and supporters real hope again. It’s clear he’s thinking deeply about what needs to change.
What matters to him, he’s emphasized, is getting leaders in place who have integrity and aren’t just focused on themselves. He believes any real attempt to fix the party has to go back to its core values and principles and that means a completely different approach to how leadership works and how the country moves forward.
Opong-Fosu isn’t new to public service. He’s spent over forty years doing this work. He was a District Secretary and Chief Executive for nearly two decades, then moved into national government as Deputy Minister and eventually Minister for Local Government and Rural Development under John Mahama.
Beyond that, he’s held some serious positions Minister for Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and he represented Amenfi East in Parliament for four years. Internationally, he’s served as President of the African Union of Local Authorities and headed the Africa, Caribbean, and Pacific Local Government Platform. These aren’t ceremonial roles either; they’re positions that required real leadership experience.
These days, besides his role at GIPC, he leads development and policy organizations like Africa Growth Solutions and the Africa Global Emergence Centre. So, he’s not just talking about repositioning the party he’s been doing this kind of work for years.
When asked about his intentions, Opong-Fosu said he appreciates the confidence people are showing in him, but he’s not rushing into anything. He’s going to keep consulting with stakeholders, and once he’s done those conversations, he’ll make a formal announcement about whether he’s running. That tells you something he’s listening before he decides.
