Alan John Kyerematen

Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen (born 3 October 1955) is a Ghanaian politician, a corporate executive, and a former member of the New Patriotic Party. He was Ghana's Minister for Trade and Industry from 2017 to 2023. He was also Ghana's Ambassador to the United States from 2001 to 2003 and later as Minister of Trade and Industry, Private Sector Development (PSD), and Presidential Special Initiatives (PSI) during the John Kufuor's administration. Kyerematen has served as a trade advisor at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he coordinated the African Trade Policy Centre (ATPC).

In September 2023, Alan John kwadwo Kyerematen parted ways from the current party New Patriotic Party after losing the party's flagbearership race. He then proceeded to form his own political party named Movement for Change, an Independent political movement that will contest the 2024 general elections with him as Presidential Candidate.

Early life Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen was born on Monday, 3 October 1955 to Alexander Atta Yaw Kyerematen, a social anthropologist from Pataasee, Kumasi and Victoria Kyerematen (née Welsing) from Elmina and Ejisu. He was named after an archbishop in the Church of England, in the 1930s. Alexander A. Y. Kyerematen, Alan's father was then a student at the school and later, a boys prefect in his final year.

In 1951, his father was the founder and first director of the Centre for National Culture located in Kumasi of the Ashanti Region and later on, he was appointed the mayor of Kumasi and then Commissioner for local government between 1966 and 1969 during the regime of the National Liberation Council.

Alan Kyerematen attended Adisadel College for his secondary education, entering the institution at the age of nine years after starting at then Asokore Mampong Secondary School, now Kumasi Academy. He attended Achimota School afterward for his sixth form education. He also worked for several years as a principal consultant and head of Public Systems Management with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI).

In 1998, Kyerematen was appointed by the UNDP as the first regional director of Enterprise Africa, which was an Africa-wide, flagship initiative for the development and promotion of small and medium enterprises. Under that framework, he established enterprise support institutions and programmes in 13 Sub-Saharan Africa countries, including Botswana, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. Over 4,000 African entrepreneurs and small businesses have benefited from these programmes.

Diplomacy and international public service Kyerematen was appointed Ghana's ambassador to the U.S. when the NPP came into office from 2001 to 2003.

Politics

Party advocacy Kyerematen is a founding member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and has also served on the highest decision-making bodies of the NPP both in opposition and in Government.

He served as a member on the NPP National Executive Committee from 1992 to 2001. He has also served as a member of the Economic Management Team and member of the party's Finance Committee. He is also a Founding Member of the Young Executive Forum (YEF), a youth advocacy and lobbying group of the NPP. He was Chairperson of the forum from 1992 to 2001.

Kyerematen has been one of few to have held membership on the National Executive Committee for years and under the successive Chairpersons including B.J. DaRocha, Peter Ala Adjetey, Samuel Odoi-Sykes and Haruna Esseku. As a result of his contribution to strategy development, he was appointed a Member of the NPP/CPP Great Alliance Negotiating Team. In 2014, he once again came second to Akufo-Addo in the presidential primaries to elect a flag-bearer to lead the NPP in the 2016 general elections. At the congress organised to shortlist the number of prospective candidates from 7 to 5, Kyerematen polled 7.97% of the valid votes cast compared to Akufo-Addo's 80.81%. In the final presidential primary to select the flagbearer, Kyerematen was first runner-up with 4.75% of the votes while archrival Akufo-Addo received 94.35% of the votes to win the contest.

He has been nicknamed as Alan Cash. Once asked by a journalist how he became known in the Ghanaian media and political landscape as "Alan Cash," Kyerematen said it happened because in his political campaigns, he stressed the importance of creating jobs and "real cash" for the people. On 25 September 2023 Alan Kyeremanten quit NPP and decided to contest 2024 general election as an independent candidate. In May 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo named Alan Kyerematen as part of the nineteen ministers who would form his cabinet.

His other accomplishment is the development the Trade Ministry into a professional service organization with the Ministry being restructured into strategic business units with an efficient programme coordination and management system.

Resignation as a Cabinet Minister On Saturday, 7 January 2023, Alan Kyeremanten took to Twitter now X to announce his resignation as cabinet minister responsible for trade and industry effective 16 January. Sources indicate that he wrote to the presidency indicating his intention to resign effective from 16 January 2023 and this was accepted by President Akufo-Addo.

Flagbearership On Wednesday, 11 January 2023, Alan John Kyerematen officially announced his intention to contest the NPP’s flagbearership and underwent a successful vetting process on Monday, 3 July. On 26 August 2023, the former Trade Minister placed third with 95 votes, representing 10.29% of total votes cast qualifying him for the New Patriotic Party presidential primaries in November. However, he took to social media on 5 September to announce his decision to resign from contesting his party's national delegate congress which was slated for 4 November 2023.

Resignation From New Patriotic Party (NPP) On Monday, 25 September 2023, Alan John Kyerematen resigned from New Patriotic Party (NPP), after resigning from NPP's flagbearership with immediate effect to contest as an independent presidential candidate (Movement For Change) for the presidential race in the 2024 Ghanaian general election to be held in December. As he said: "My intention to contest as an independent presidential candidate will not affect NPP."

Movement for Change The movement for change came as a result of Alan John Kyerematen resignation from the New Patriotric Party (NPP) to contest as an independent candidate for the 2024 General Election. The brand logo for the MOVEMENT is the Monarch Butterfly, which politically symbolizes change and transformation, hope, and positivity. It also communicates strength, endurance, spirituality, and trust, which are key traits that I cherish as a Political Leader. In Akan, it is known as Afrafranto. The brand motto of the MOVEMENT is “Ghana Will Rise Again,” which symbolizes hope for the future of Ghana. The four dominant themes for the change agenda that will be pursued by the MOVEMENT are as follows:

Change the political status quo by moving Ghana beyond the duopoly of the two main political parties in Ghana; the NPP and NDC. Promote the establishment of a Government of National Unity Build consensus on a National Development Agenda Inspire behavioral and attitudinal change in the people of Ghana

Personal life Coming from a mixed Akan ancestry of the Asante and Fante ethnic subgroups, he speaks Twi and Fante fluently. In addition, he speaks Ga and is proficient in French. Alan Kyerematen along with his elder brother Stephen Kyerematen are managing directors of A Wealth of Women Ghana BKD (Bridget Kyerematen Darko), led by Dr. Sandi Williams, PhD a foundation formed to support their late sister's work and legacy. The foundation is affiliated to A Wealth of Women.