Present Position and Areas of Expertise

Dr. Benjamin Aggrey Ntim was appointed the Minister of Communications by the President of the Republic of Ghana on 1st August 2007. Before then he was the Deputy Minister of Communications since March 2005. He is also the first Chairman of the Council of the Ghana Telecom University College since it was set up in April 2005. Prior to this he served as the Consultant Engineer for the Implementing Committee for the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at the University of Ghana, Legon. Dr. Ntim has wide experience in the planning, management, monitoring and evaluation of institutions and projects related to communications, energy, education, aviation and science, technology and engineering.

Educational and Industrial Experience

Dr. Aggrey Ntim is an Engineer by profession and is a Member of the Ghana Institute of Engineers. He received his B.Sc. (Engineering), 1st Class Honours in 1966 and then Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering from London University. Thereafter, he worked for three years as a research and design Engineer on turbine and compressor blades for aircraft engines at Rolls Royce Ltd., Derby in England.

Teaching and Industrial Assignment at the University of Science and Technology

In 1971, Dr. Ntim returned to Ghana to become a lecturer in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Science & Technology, teaching fluid mechanics. During the nine-year assignment at Kumasi, Ghana, he also served as a UNESCO Professor at the Universities of Nairobi and Dar-Es-Salaam and a visiting lecturer at Imperial College, London University. He spent part of a sabbatical year at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, working on research in renewable energies. He served as a Director of Ghana Airways Corporation during part of the period when he became the Deputy Director of the Technology Consultancy Centre (TCC) at the University of Science & Technology. In the latter capacity he was responsible for the development of programmes to render technical assistance to local industries and for the establishment of university-sponsored small-scale industries in the country. Between 1974 and 1980 he served on the UNESCO International Working Group on Engineering Education/Industry Co-operation.

International Assignment – UNESCO, Paris

He joined UNESCO-Paris, in 1980 as a Programme Specialist in Engineering Education. For almost 16 years, he worked on various programmes related to improvements in technician and engineering education, promotion of linkages between technician and engineering education and industry, measures to increase continuing education for engineers and higher-level technicians, creation of awareness of environmental factors and ethical issues among engineers and technicians. He interacted with inter-governmental agencies including UNIDO, FAO, WHO, ILO, the World Bank and UNEP and several regional bodies in Europe, Asia, Latin America and Africa.

International Assignment – UNESCO, Pretoria, South Africa

He was transferred from Paris to UNESCO-South Africa, Pretoria, as the Sub-Regional Science and Technology Advisor in 1996. He rose to become Director at the Office. During this period of international assignment he worked with technician and research institutes, universities, government departments and non-governmental organizations and directed and supervised numerous programmes in biotechnology, environmental science and management, renewable energies in rural areas, science policy review and development and improvements in science, technician and engineering education.