Obaa Akua has a PhD in Business Management and Administration from Stellenbosch University, South Africa and MSc Development Administration and Planning from University College London. She is a member of the Ghana Institute of Planners. She is currently a Teaching Fellow at Maastricht University, The Netherlands, where she tutors a number of courses in the Global Studies programme. Prior to her current role, Obaa Akua was 2022 Africa Fellow at the World Bank where she worked on a number of reports including legal framework barriers to youth and female economic empowerment in The Gambia. She also worked in the civil society space in Ghana on issues relating to youth participation in public policy, sustainable development, and migration. She has also been a member of national and international platforms such as the Generation Equality Youth Taskforce (hosted by UN Women), the thematic working group on the Ghana National Youth Policy Review, and the Global Shapers Community (hosted by the World Economic Forum).
What is Youth Political Participation for Obaa?
Reserving political participation to specific sections of the population such as the wealthy and adults is not only exclusionary but also unjust. Many developing countries, particularly those in Africa, have a youthful population. What that means is that, young people of voting age constitute a significant proportion of the population – too significant to be ignored or to choose not to participate.
As such, it is important to create awareness among young people to inform them about the importance of political participation and how they can contribute to the political ecosystem in a way that allows them to actively shape the space that works well for the greater good.
I believe that young people have the skills, knowledge, and interest to participate in political space. Young people equally need the support and mentoring from experienced persons who can share with them valuable lessons needed to navigate a rather important but challenging space.
This is an area I hope to contribute to, through research and project interventions (hopefully). I hope to use my research to bring to the fore issues of importance to young people. For this research, I hope to focus on the cost of politics for young people in Ghana.
Personality Obaa admires
I admire Trevor Noah. I admire his line of reasoning, and how he carefully articulates very nuanced and complex thoughts on issues such as identity and inequality. He is also able to engage in difficult conversation, without necessarily expecting his audience to agree with him.
Some of the topics that I teach and write about can be difficult and complex, and I would like to be able to articulate my thoughts in a manner that’s respectful, nuanced, without necessarily expecting everyone to be thoroughly pleased.
Link to works already published:
Konadu-Osei, O. A., Boroş, S., & Bosch, A. (2023). Methodological decolonisation and local epistemologies in business ethics research. Journal of Business Ethics, 186(1), 1-12. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10551-022-05220-z
Osei Kwadwo, V., & Konadu, O. A. (2020). Can Ghana afford the sustainable development goal on education? Africa Education Review, 17(2), 177-197 https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/18146627.2018.1557532
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