Samuel Boafo-Arko 

Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business

“I’m a daring Ghanaian who’s interested in finance and enjoys playing soccer and riding horses.”

Hometown: Accra, Ghana

Fun Fact About Yourself: I love to ride horses.

Undergraduate School and Major: University of Ghana

Most Recent Employer and Job Title: Pan African Capital Group (Junior Associate) / Ministry of Finance Ghana (Technical Assistant) – I was seconded to the Ministry by Pan African but was still their employee.

Describe your biggest accomplishment in your career so far: Facilitating a transaction to securitize gold royalty revenue to the Ghanaian government.

What quality best describes the MBA classmates you’ve met so far and why? Global. Most of my MBA classmates have had some experience living or working outside the United States. This always brings a global perspective to class discussions and there is always a global experience by a member of the class that serves as an example for the topic being discussed.

Aside from your classmates, what was the key factor that led you to choose this program for your full-time MBA and why was it so important to you? The school’s location was a big part of my decision because DC is the intersection of business and policy and that resonated with my past experiences of working in both the private and public sectors.

What club or activity are you looking most forward to in business school? Finance Club and the Black MBA Association. The Beer Society also seems very appealing.

What was the most challenging question you were asked during the admissions process? The most challenging question was ‘Why now.’ Given that I am below the average age of Georgetown MBA students, a lot of thought went into preparing for the ‘Why now’ question. Even at the point when it was asked, I felt like I didn’t fully express myself in the question.

What led you to pursue an MBA at this point in your career? Even though my experience is shorter than the average, I have been given the opportunity to work on several teams and take up a lot of responsibilities. At this point, I want to leverage those experiences and the Georgetown MBA program to sharpen my leadership skills to be able to be an effective leader as my career progresses.

What other MBA programs did you apply to? Columbia University and the University of Maryland College Park

How did you determine your fit at various schools? I was fortunate to be able to speak to alumni of various schools before I chose the schools where I applied. This, along with the desire to be on the East Coast, gave me an understanding of the schools’ cultures and greatly influenced my school choices. The factors I prioritized were my fit and geographical location. For Georgetown, it was the school’s collaborative program, the global nature of the MBA, and the training of the whole person that really stood out to me. I have already started to strongly feel the culture in my opening term.

What was your defining moment and how did it shape who you are? One of my biggest defining moments was my internship at Databank, the largest investment bank in Ghana, during my last year of undergrad. This opened the door for me to meet lots of great people who set me on the path that eventually got me to Georgetown.

Where do you see yourself in ten years? I see myself as a director at a global investment bank, helping to shape up Africa-focused deals to aid in economic growth in the region.