Key aspects of the school's administration and curriculum were originally modeled on the English public school system during the colonial era.
The present curriculum falls within the Senior High School system in Ghana, with overall oversight by the Ghana Education Service.
The word "Adisco" is a portmanteau of "Adisadel" and "College".
Adisadel College was ranked 10th out of the top 100 best high schools in Africa by Africa Almanac in 2014, based on the quality of education, student engagement, strength and activities of alumni, school profile, internet, and news visibility.
The school was established in 1910 in a building at Topp Yard, near Christ Church School which is within the vicinity of Cape Coast Castle. It began with 29 boys, but by 1935, it had expanded to accommodate about 200 pupils.
Adisadel College has a long history of producing some of the nation's gifted and talented Ghanaians in the realm of sports, politics, music, banking, etc.
With over 20,000 old boys across the globe, old students of the school make up a sizeable figure in the world's workforce and most have greatly excelled with a number of them in the 1% upper class.
Here are 5 notable alumni who are considered to be super-wealthy in Ghana:
- Kennedy Agyapong
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong is a Ghanaian politician and businessman who represents Assin Central in parliament for the New Patriotic Party.
He was first elected a member of parliament in 2000 to the seat of Assin North. He retained his seat in 2004[4] and the 2008 parliamentary elections.
In 2012 he was elected in the new seat of Assin Central and was re-elected in 2016.
With 128 houses and counting, a private jet, a Rolls Royce and an $ 80,000-bed facility, Agyapong is super-rich and listed among the top 10 wealthiest people in Ghana
He owns Kencity Media, Supercare Group of Companies, Mina D’oro Ventures, Gold Coin Communication M/S, Imperial World Business Limited, Hollywood Shopping Centre, and many others.
He is also on record as the first Ghanaian to be knighted in the 21st century when he was presented with an honorary knighthood by the Prince of Wales in 2003, for his achievements as an African businessman and a leading business executive from the Commonwealth.
- Freddie Blay
He was a Member of Parliament in Ghana and served as the First Deputy Speaker in the Fourth Parliament of Ghana.
He was a member of the Convention People's Party (CPP) but resigned to join the New Patriotic Party after being criticized by some CPP stalwarts for not campaigning for the CPP flagbearer Paa Kwesi Nduom, instead endorsing NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo.
He was also appointed to the position of Board Chairman for the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation GNPC.
He is the Senior Partner at Blay and Associates. He is also the board chairman and majority shareholder of Western Publications Limited, publishers of the Daily Guide newspaper, the flagship of the Group, Business Guide, News-One, and Young Blazers.
He is currently the National Chairman of ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP).
- Ernest Bediako Sampong
Chief Executive Officer of Ernest Chemists Limited, Ernest Bediako Sampong, who is also an old boy, is listed as the 41st wealthiest Ghanaian.
He is estimated to be worth a whopping $276 million which is mostly from his Pharmaceutical empire which he started in 1986 as a single shop.
Ernest Chemists represents a number of global pharmaceutical names and operates an extensive network of distribution channels throughout West Africa.
He donated a number of computers and a vehicle to Adisadel College during the school’s 110th Anniversary.
- Nana Appiah Mensah (NAM1)
Nana Appiah Mensah popularly known as NAM1 is a Ghanaian businessman known for Menzgold, a gold dealership and investment firm that promised customers a 10 percent monthly returns on their investments.
NAM1 is also the Chief Executive Officer of Zylofon Media.
In September 2018, Menzgold took SEC and the Bank of Ghana to court after its license was revoked by SEC.
On January 9, 2019, a circuit court issued a warrant to arrest NAM1 for money laundering and fraud causing the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to trigger an Interpol red alert.
- Prince Kofi Amoabeng
Defunct UT Bank's Prince Kofi Amoabeng is a Ghanaian businessman and a former military officer of the Ghanaian Armed Forces. He is an old boy of Adisadel College.
He was a co-founder of the now-defunct UT Bank which was absorbed into the GCB Bank in 2017 during Ghana's banking crisis.
He is currently subject to ongoing court battles regarding these allegations following his arrest on 14 January 2020 and released on bail of 110 million cedis.
In January 2020, Amoabeng was charged with the embezzlement of a total amount of 59.9 million Ghana cedis from UT Bank. He has claimed the charges have a political basis.
He received the following awards for his works in the banking sector, Lifetime Achievement for Innovation in Africa, 2013, Johnnie Walker Giant, 2012. A global "Walk With Giants" campaign.
Overall Best Entrepreneur in the Maiden Ghana Entrepreneurs Award (2011), one of two Ghanaians profiled in Moky Makura's book on Africa's Greatest Entrepreneurs which profiles 16 of Africa’s top entrepreneurs and Ghana's Most Respected CEO for 2008/2010/2012.
He also received the National Honours for an Order of the Star of the Volta- Officer's Division presented by the President of Ghana in 2008 and CIMG Marketing Man of the Year 2006.
- Sam Jonah
Samuel Esson Jonah is a Ghanaian businessman, the executive chairman of Jonah Capital, an equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Jonah was previously president of AngloGold Ashanti and shared the strategic leadership of the company with its CEO, Bobby Godsell.
He joined Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in 1979, working in various capacities, including underground operations.
At the age of 36, he became the chief executive officer and supervised the transformation of Ashanti Goldfields into a mining multinational, increased gold production from 240,000 ounces per annum to over 1.6 million ounces in over ten years, and oversaw the company's listing as the first operating African company on the New York Stock Exchange.
In 2009, he became a non-executive director of Vodafone.