Since 1995, K. Y. Amoako has been Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, the regional arm of the United Nations in Africa, at the rank of Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations. Mr. Amoako is a board member of the Development Gateway Foundation and Chair of its Editorial Committee, a member of the Global Information and Infrastructure Commission, and a member of the Commission on Capital Flows to Africa. He is also Chair of the Commission for HIV/AIDS and Governance in Africa and recently served as a member of the World Health Organization's high-level Commission on Macroeconomics and Health.

Prior to ECA, he worked in the World Bank for two decades, latterly in senior positions including: Director of the Education and Social Policy Department with responsibility for providing strategic leadership for the Bank's programmes on poverty reduction and human resource development (1993-1995); Division Chief of the Human Resources Operations Division for Brazil, Venezuela and Peru (1990-1992); and Division Chief for Country Operations for six countries in eastern Africa (1985-1990).

Among Mr. Amoako's principal publications is `Balance of Payments Problems and Exchange Rate Policy: The Ghanaian Experience' (1974). In addition, he supervised the preparation of major World Bank reports and policy papers including: `Higher Education: The Lessons of Experience' (1993); `Enhancing Women's Participation in Economic Development' (1994); and `Advancing Social Development: A Contribution to the Social Summit' (1995). `Perspectives on Africa's Development' (2000) contains the texts of 40 major speeches by Mr. Amoako on the region's challenges delivered since 1996.

K.Y. Amoako received his B.A. (Hons) with a concentration in Economics from the University of Ghana in Legon and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Economics from the University of California at Berkeley.