WHO IS KOFI AKPABLI?

WHO IS KOFI AKPABLI?

Kofi Akpabli is a communications professional and a journalist whose special interests are triangled between tourism, culture and the environment. Whether he is covering a 9/11 memorial on Ground Zero in New York or discovering traditional taboos in Ghana’s Upper West Region, human interest is ever his soft spot. Happily, as he uncovers the intrigues of the human situation, humour never seems to leave him alone.

In April 2010 Kofi Akpabli was nominated as a finalist in the CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards Programme.

Born in Accra he started writing in 1991 when a historical play he wrote captured first prize in a National Play Writing Contest. The drama, ‘The Prince and the Slave’ has subsequently run at the Art Centre in Accra and the Cape Coast Castle.

Kofi attended Nsaba Presbyterian Secondary School in the Central Region where he obtained his ‘O’ Levels in 1990. He proceeded to do sixth form at St. Paul’s Secondary at Denu, in the Volta Region.

Whilst doing his National Service in Northern Ghana, Kofi Akpabli developed a keen interest in travel and environmental writing. In 2002 he won an award in Biodiversity Reporting (organised by International Federation of Environmental Journalists). His winning feature article was an exposition on the uniqueness and usefulness of the Baobab tree. In March of the same year, Kofi was beaten to second place in a National French Language competition held in Accra. Having won first prize in the Regional contest in Bolgatanga, Kofi represented the Upper East Region.

During a study tour of the United Kingdom in 2003 and 2004, Kofi took special interest in the travel writing genre as practised in the British print media. As a freelance journalist he has worked for a cross-section of Ghanaian newspapers; namely, the Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times, Graphic Showbiz, the Spectator, Daily Mail and the Public Agenda.

Kofi has also written a couple of news commentaries that have been broadcast by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC). He has been published online courtesy International Centre for Journalists and Conservation International.

Kofi Akpabli holds an M. Phil in Tourism from the University of Cape Coast. His first degree in Primary Education was at the same University. He is also a graduate of the School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, majoring in Public Relations, Journalism and Advertising. In October 2007, he was appointed adjunct lecturer at the Ghana Institute of Management Public Administration (GIMPA) but is yet to be scheduled. In 2008, Yankah and Associates, an Accra based Marketing Communications firm appointed him as an Associate Consultant (Part Time).

In September 2007 Kofi won one of the three places for Sub-Saharan Africa as an environmental journalist to visit the United Nations Headquarters in New York and cover the NGO Conference on Climate Change. In May 2008, he was nominated by the Ghana Tourist Board and JICA to participate in a 6 week course in Destination Marketing in Tokyo. He has also participated in a workshop in Tourism Marketing within the EU in the Netherlands, March 2010.

Since May 2008, Kofi Akpabli has served as a Resource Person for the EU–funded Cultural Initiative Support Project. He has been teaching mid-career journalists how to report on cultural tourism. In December 2009 Kofi was invited to deliver a Resource Paper at the ‘Heritage Matters’ Conference held at the Accra International Conference Centre (organised by Michigan University). His presentation was entitled: ‘Heritage Tourism in Ghana- the Curious Case of the Calabash, a Noah’s Ark and a Forgotten Broad leaf’.

As a writer, Kofi Akpabli’s specialties cut across several genres. He is listed as a ‘Specialist Freelancer’ of the Ghana Journalists Association and is also an Associate member of the Institute of Public Relations, Ghana.

Kofi enjoys listening to classic songs of the 1960/70’s. His other hobby is exercising. Kofi Akpabli is married to Yvonne Ama Twumwaa, a social worker. They have two young children, Eyram and Echam.