Ghana’s Hilary Denise Arko-Dadzie, a consummate business leader and project management expert, has been appointed to the executive management team of the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), based in Harare, Zimbabwe, as Corporate Services Executive with extensive responsibility for four departments within the regional organisation – namely ICT, Human Resources, Finance and Administration.
Hilary is the first woman to occupy this high profile role and the first woman to be appointed into the five member executive committee of ARIPO.
ARIPO is an Intergovernmental Organization established to promote the use of Intellectual Property for the development in Member States in Africa. Membership of the Organization is open to all States members of the African Union (AU) or of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA). Currently close to 20 African countries from East, South and West Africa are members of the regional organisation.
Hilary is a great business leader and a proven performer who excels in leading teams to deliver transformational and sustainable outcomes in every organisation she has worked. Prior to joining ARIPO, She was the Director of Special Projects at Airtel Ghana where she led an organisation-wide effort to drive efficiency and improve business performance.
Prior to that she was the Director of TowerCo for Airtel Ghana and Acting Head for Airtel Sierra Leone. Hilary joined Airtel Ghana in 2009 as Project Manager in charge of strategic projects such as the introduction of Airtel Ghana’s 3.75 G offering, Mobile Number Portability, the creation and launch of Airtel Premier – the company’s value proposition for high value customers, the Millennium Villages project to transform the lives of hundreds of Ghanaians and the migration from Westel to Zain.
Hilary, an IT specialist and business strategist, holds a BSC in Computer Science from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, and an MBA (General Management) from the University of East London (UK), as well as IT and Project management certifications from Cisco, George Washington University and Prince II.
She has over 18 years working experience in Telecoms, ISP, NGO and destination inspection industries.
Hilary is a passionate advocate for digital inclusion for Africans and believes in empowering young people to achieve more for themselves.
She is set to drive transformation in the operations of ARIPO for Member States across the continent.