Features
A focus on Associate Professor Richard Owusu
I bring to you today a write-up about one of those who were honoured at the Finland edition of the National Youth Shakers Conclave & Awards event held in Helsinki on July 27, 2025, since I promised in my last article to write about some of the awardees.
My focus today is on Dr Richard A. Owusu, an Associate Professor at Linnaeus University in Sweden, who received an award for Societal Impact and Achievement in Education.
In a sense, this write-up continues with my narration of personalities and their accomplishments as members of the Ghanaian Diaspora in Finland.
Dr Owusu is an active and well-respected senior member of the Ghanaian community in Finland as well as other Ghanaian associations. He is also quite well known in other African communities.
He moved to Finland in the early 1990s and lived in Helsinki. He currently lives in a town near Helsinki with his wife and their three children.
Accomplishments and honours
It is important to recount accomplishments as part of the success stories of the personalities of Ghanaian descent in Finland to highlight their exploits both within the Ghanaian migrant community and in the wider Finnish society.
The National Youth Shakers Conclave award is not the only one that Prof. Owusu has won. Some time ago he was honoured by the Ghana Union Finland, an association representing the Ghanaian community in Finland.
In 2012, Dr Owusu got a permanent position as a Senior Lecturer at the Linnaeus University (Sin Sweden) and has been teaching international business subject there. He became an Associate Professor in 2016.
Educational background and academic life
Prof. Owusu had a BA degree in Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon, before moving to Finland in the1990s. In Finland, he got another BA in Economics from the Hanken School of Economics in Helsinki, the Finnish capital city.
He went on the gain a master’s degree in International Marketing in 1995. In 1996, he was given the opportunity to pursue a PhD and had a full-time teaching position while he pursued his doctoral studies.
After completing the doctorate in 2002 from the Hanken School of Economics where he specialised in International Marketing, Dr Owusu worked in a postdoctoral capacity, lecturing at Hanken. Later, he worked briefly as an Assistant Professor and lecturer at the Vaasa University before moving to Linnaeus University in Sweden.
He has published widely in his subject area both at local and international conferences, and has also published in scientific journals and as chapters in books.
His role in the Ghanaian community
From his early days in Finland, Prof. Owusu became very active in the Ghanaian community. At the time, there were some Finns who were interested in issues concerning Ghana/Africa. That foresight saw the establishment of the Suomi-Ghana Seura (the Finland- Ghana Friendship Association).
Dr Owusu became a prominent member of the Suomi-Ghana Seura. First, he became the Secretary of the association, then the Financial Secretary/Treasurer, Vice Chairman, and eventually the Chairman of Suomi-Ghana Seura.
Later, the Ghana Union Finland (GUF) was formed by some members of the Suomi- Ghana Seura to allow mostly the Ghanaian migrants to solely take care of Ghanaian issues. It was formed in order to organise the Ghanaian community, to inform Finnish people about the good things in Ghana, and about Ghanaian migrants in Finland. Prof Owusu was thus arguably part of the founding members of the GUF.
Dr Owusu has been a counsellor and mentor who has guided many young Ghanaian migrants on their career paths and has also been active in settling various kinds of conflicts.
He lives near Helsinki with his wife and their three children—two daughters and a son. In November last year, his younger daughter was selected as Finland’s 2024 Lucia, which is a huge achievement as the first Black Saint Lucia representative (I hope to write about her some day). The Lucia of Finland is crowned in Helsinki’s main cathedral every year on December 13, bringing joy, music and light to brighten up the darkest days of the winter (see, www.lucia. fi).
This s the short but impressive story of Dr Richard Owusu. Thank you.
By Perpetual Crentsil
Email: perpetualcrentsil@yahoo.com
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