Sam E. Jonah

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sam E Jonah (KBE) is the Executive Chairman of Jonah Capital, a private equity fund based in Johannesburg, South Africa. Mr Jonah was previously President of AngloGold Ashanti and shared the strategic leadership of the company with its CEO, Bobby Godsell.

Sam Jonah had his high school education at Adisadel College in Cape Coast, Ghana and earned an Associateship (ACSM) in Mining Engineering at the Camborne School of Mines in Cornwall, England and subsequently completed an MSc in Mine Management at the Imperial College of Science and Technology in London. He rejoined Ashanti Goldfields Corporation in 1979, working in various capacities, including underground operations, and he became the Chief Executive Officer at the age of 36.

As Chief Executive of Ashanti Goldfields, Sam Jonah 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.

Currently, the Chancellor of the University of Cape Coast, Ghana, Mr Jonah chairs the boards of Equator Exploration Ltd, Scharrig Mining, Equinox Minerals, Uramin, Moto Goldmines Ltd and Range Resources Ltd. Mr Jonah also serves on various boards including Transnet, Mittal Steel SA, Ashesi University, Standard Bank of South Africa, Lonmin, the Commonwealth African Investment Fund (Comafin), the Advisory Council of the UN Secretary General's Global Compact,President Olusegun Obasanjo's International Investment Advisory Council on Nigeria, President Thabo Mbeki's International Investment Advisory Council of South Africa, and President John Kufuor's Ghana Investors' Advisory Council. As well as his directorships, Mr Jonah is a member of the Advisory Board of the London Business School.

He has been decorated with several awards and honours, among them an honorary Doctor of Science (D.Sc) degree awarded jointly by the Camborne School of Mines and the University of Exeter (UK) in 1996.

Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, conferred on Sam Jonah an Honorary Knighthood, presented by the Prince of Wales, at a ceremony in June, 2003. The award is in recognition of Dr. Jonah's exceptional achievements as an African businessman, a leading business executive from the Commonwealth, and an international public figure.