Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Kumasi, has earned global recognition as Reverend Professor Grace Nkansa Asante, Vice Dean of its Faculty of Social Sciences, is appointed Africa’s representative on the Crown Nominations Commission (CNC), the body tasked with selecting the next Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Church of England announced the appointment on May 13, positioning Prof. Nkansa Asante among five global Anglican Communion representatives who will help discern and nominate the 106th Archbishop of Canterbury.

This is the first time the CNC will include five regional representatives, a reform aimed at broadening global participation in the Church’s leadership decisions.

Prof. Nkansa Asante, a trailblazing academic and Anglican priest, recently made history as Ghana’s first female Full Professor of Economics.

A product of KNUST, where she earned her bachelor’s and PhD in Economics, she also holds a master’s degree from the University of Ghana. Her academic work spans Economic Policy Analysis, Monetary Economics, and Financial Economics, and she is also a visiting lecturer with the African Economic Research Consortium.

From 2019 to 2022, she led KNUST’s Department of Economics and played a key role in institutional reforms and mentoring young economists. Her public service record includes work with the African Development Bank and the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly.

Beyond academia, Prof. Nkansa Asante is an ordained Anglican priest serving at the Archbishop Thomas Cranmer Anglican Church within the KNUST community. Her combined expertise in spiritual leadership and economic governance uniquely equips her for the CNC’s work.

The Commission is scheduled to meet in May, July and September, following a global consultation process earlier this year. Prof. Nkansa Asante’s appointment ensures that Africa and KNUST will have a strong voice in one of the most consequential decisions in the Anglican Communion.