Presbyter Eyram Kwame Atsu was born on the 6th of April, 1957 at Avenorpedo in the Akatsi South Municipality. He has his paternal roots from Abor and the Lafe Clan in the lineage of Torgbi Amagavieso of Avenorpeme and his maternal roots from Anyako Woeto and Avenorpedo. Eyram is a royal from the ancestry of Torgbi Agbodzalu. He is the first born of ten surviving children of his parents. Eyram’s formative years were shaped in harsh disciplinarian upbringing in farming and petty trading under the paternal grandfather, Torgbi Xedzro of blessed memory and the mother, Madam Fortune Awo Gasor.
Educational Background
Eyram started his basic education in Volo in the North Tong District and continued at Logovi, a village near Ziope, both in the Volta Region. By the time he passed common entrance examination in 1972, Eyram had attended basic schools in other towns including Avenorpedo, Accra Newtown, Abor and Dzelukope, as he had to move along with the transfer of his father, Rev. Elikplim Michael Atsu of blessed memory, who was a teacher, a pastor and an education officer. Eyram commenced his secondary education at Keta Secondary School in 1972 and got transferred to complete his ‘O’ Level at Kpedze Secondary School in 1977.
Eyram gained admission into the sixth form at St Paul’s Secondary School at Denu in the Volta Region but had to abandon the pursuit of the ‘A’ Level certificate and his ambition to become a medical doctor, when he got three job offers at the same time, as Valuation Officer Trainee at the Ministry of Local Government and posted to Goaso in the Brong Ahafo Region and at the Forestry Department and posted to Sunyani and also at Standard Chartered Bank and posted to Tamale. Eyram opted for the offer of Standard Chartered Bank and turned down the other two appointments.
On joining Standard Chartered Bank, Eyram pursued the Ghana Chartered Institute of Bankers examination to consolidate his new ambition for a banking career. This gave him the leverage to further his studies and obtained professional qualifications from: The Chartered Institute of Bankers, Ghana (1990), Manchester Business School, UK, (1994), International workshops and short courses in Banking, in the UK, Hong Kong, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Dubai (1998, 1999, 2002, 2003 respectively), National Banking College, Ghana (2001, 2002, 2003). He was also Licensed (Certified) as a human resource and capacity development expert by international institutions such as Peoples Skills International (UK), Omega Performance (UK), and Ghana National Banking College.
He holds Post Graduate Certificate in Management from Nottingham University, UK (1999), Post Graduate Diploma in Business Admin from University of Leicester, UK (2010), MSc in Business Engineering & Management from Coventry University, UK (2012), and was adjudged the overall best student in Engineering & Management and related courses in his cohort. He also holds a Post Graduate Certificate in Sustainability and Environmental Management Systems, Ghana Technology University College (2013).
Career and work
Eyram spent all his work life in Standard Chartered Bank for 34 years and was accredited with an award for dedicated and meritorious long service. He went on voluntary retirement in 2013 to pursue other interests in research and consultancy. The summary of the key roles played in the bank includes: Branch Operations Manager, Credit Analyst, Relationship Manager, and Regional Corporate Banking Manager in Ghana, Area Training Manager for West & Central Africa and credit training facilitator across Africa. He delivered training courses in Credit, International Trade and Sales/Negotiation Skills, in all the footprints of Standard Chartered Bank across Africa including Kenya, Nigeria, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, Zambia, Cote d’Ivoire, Cameroun, Sierra Leone, the Gambia and Ghana. He was a member of the Y2K Bankmaster re-engineering team in Botswana (1999-2000), Director and Country Head of Corporate Banking in Sierra Leone.
Eyram served as a Consultant for a number of institutions, including: a group of timber processing & export companies (the Naja David Group); as Director for strategic planning and banking relationships (2013-2018). He was a Part-time Lecturer & Examiner for Accra Institute of Technology (AIT) and Open University of Malaysia for MBA/MSc students in Principles of Project Management and Project Risk Management and also supervised post-graduate project-works/thesis (2013-2018). He was a Resident Consultant for Sierra Leone Commercial Bank (2014 & 2016). He is currently a member of the team of consultants for Ghana Incentive-based Risk-sharing System for Agricultural Lending (GIRSAL); a joint initiative of the Government of Ghana (Ministry of Food & Agriculture) and the African Development Fund to transform and accelerate the financing of the value chain of agribusiness. Eyram was adjudged the national best training facilitator in agribusiness finance (2020) by GIRSAL. He has been the Consulting Director for Universal Merchant Bank (UMB) from 2018 to 2021.
Other high profile roles include, serving on the Ministerial and Presidential advisory board on Agriculture for the government of Sierra Leone for two years (2007 & 2008. He was the vice-chairman of Ghanaian Professionals Association in Sierra Leone, a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Board Credit Committee of the erstwhile Royal Bank, for one year (2017). He is currently the CEO of Campus Laundry, a laundry firm, located at KNUST campus in Kumasi.
Christian Ministry
In the Church, Presbyter Eyram Atsu served in the following capacities: Session member of the E.P. Church, Tamale in 1980-1983, was consecrated as Presbyter in the E.P. Church, Amakom, Kumasi in 1986, President of the Bible Study & Prayer Group, Amakom Parish (Kumasi) for 10 years (1985-1995), member of the Volta Evangelistic Association (VEA), Chairman of Presbyters’ Association of the Kumasi Presbytery (2012-2021), Chairman, Human Resource Development Committee (Global Evangelical Church Head Office), and a member of Synod Committee. The others are, Vice Chairman for Income Generation and Investment Committee (GEC, Head Office), member of Kumasi Presbytery Executive, Chairman, Strategic Planning Committee (2016-2018), Board Chairman, Global Evangelical Mission Hospital, Apromase (Ashanti). The rest are, Harvest Committee Chairman, Takoradi, Session member at Nungua Parish (Accra), Executive member of Missions & Evangelism team (Amakom Parish) and co-missionary in planting the Emmanuel Assembly at Anloga-Kumasi and many other congregations in the Kumasi Presbytery and a member of the internal audit team at Amakom Parish.
Eyram has been involved in voluntary activities, community development and support for churches. He is currently the Chairman of the Patrons’ Council of Avenorpedo Progressive Youth Association (APYA) and has supported several development projects. He has been awarded certificates of honour by the Agbeliza Committee of Avenorpedo in recognition of his contributions to electrification and water projects in the town.
Family Life
Presbyter Eyram Kwame Atsu lost his first wife Mrs. Georgina Atsu in 1999. He is currently married to Mrs. Regina Ama Enyonam Atsu. In all, they have seven biological children. Eyram has been a father to six other children and has taken care of a number of orphans. He is blessed with nine grandchildren.
Presbyter Eyram Atsu has been elected as the Male Presbyter onto the Synod Committee Executive of the Global Evangelical Church to serve a six-year term.