The High Commissioner
Her Excellency Mrs. Francisca Ashietey-Odunton
High Commissioner of the Republic of Ghana to the Republic of South Africa, (June, 2024 – date)
H.E Mrs. Francisca Ashietey-Odunton is a diplomat with a deep understanding of multilateral relationships and a Governance Expert with profound knowledge in legal processes, corporate culture, public accountability, change management and image building.
The Ambassador is a Lawyer/Journalist with over 25 years of experience at the Bar. She started her career with the Ghana Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC) where she held various management roles and rose through the ranks to become the Deputy Director-General/Acting Director of the institution from November 2013 to August 2017.
From August, 2017 to November 2020, Mrs. Ashietey-Odunton was appointed Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Republic of Kenya, with concurrent accreditation to Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and Tanzania. Under her guidance, the Republic of Kenya and the Republic of Rwanda established Diplomatic Missions in Accra and appointed their first respective Resident High Commissioners to Ghana.
In Kenya, she was also Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations offices in Nairobi (UNON) which hosts the only Global Headquarters of two UN bodies in Sub-Saharan Africa- the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat). Also, as Ghana’s Permanent Representative she served as Chair of the Committee of Permanent Representatives (CPR) Bureau of UNEP and oversaw the 4TH UN Environment Assembly and also served as Africa’s Representative and Rapporteur of the UNEP CPR Bureau.
She was later appointed as Ghana’s Ambassador to Türkiye in the year 2020 which she assiduously served till June, 2024. She was, in June, 2024 appointed to her current position as Ghana’s High Commissioner to the Republic of South Africa, with concurrent accreditation to Seychelles, Mauritius, Lesotho and the Kingdom of Eswatini.
H.E Mrs. Francisca Ashietey-Odunton is a member of the Ghana Bar Association (GBA) and the Ghana Journalists’ Association (GJA). She holds an Msc in Media and Communications from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), BA Social Sciences from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Human Rights/International Co-operation certificate from United Nations University and certificates in Law and Solicitor from the Ghana School of Law and is a former student of Aburi Girls Secondary School.
H.E Mrs. Francisca Ashietey-Odunton served on two Committees; The Child Online Protection where she was Vice-Chairperson tasked to establish a National Framework for the protection of children online, and a member of the Digital Terrestrial Transmission (DTT) Management Board. Ambassador Francisca Ashietey-Odunton was born in Accra and is married with two children. She speaks English, Ga and Twi and in her spare time, she enjoys swimming and reading.