Academic Excellence
Ms Esther Amba Numaba Cobbah had her primary education at schools in Sekondi-Takoradi (Ekuase) in the Western Region of Ghana and Komenda in the Central Region before going on to Mmofraturo, a Methodist boarding school for girls in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region. She then gained admission to Wesley Girls High School in Cape Coast for her secondary school education. Upon completion of Wesley Girls, Esther gained admission into the University of Ghana, Legon where she obtained her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts. She then took graduate degrees in Communications at the School of Communications Studies at the University of Ghana, Legon and at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA, where she obtained her Masters Degree, specialising in Communication for Developing Nations, Organizational and Intercultural Communication. Esther was selected as an International Rotary Scholar in 1986 during her post-graduate programme in Cornell. She believes in self-improvement and is always looking for ways to expand her knowledge; she has taken courses in management and is a qualified Gestalt Organisation Development Practitioner and coach.
Professional Excellence
& Entrepreneurship
As a communication specialist, Esther has worked for a wide variety of organisations, including the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC). She was one of the pioneers of the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC), and established the first Public Affairs department of the corporation. In this capacity, she keenly supported the promotion and marketing of Ghana’s hydrocarbon potential locally and internationally. She also developed and implemented a programme of systematic public education on the petroleum industry in Ghana. At GNPC she developed a multidisciplinary programme for disseminating countrywide the use of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) instead of wood fuel for domestic cooking. This project was so successful that the National Petroleum Company in Cote D’Ivoire (PETROCI) invited her to assist in their LPG promotion programme which she did with much success. Her expertise and resourcefulness in applying communication to the challenges of the petroleum industry led to her being appointed the first External Affairs Manager for the West African Gas Pipeline Project consortium (consisting of Shell, Chevron, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation, and the gas companies of Togo and Benin, namely Sotogaz, and Sobegaz, with Chevron as managing sponsor). In that role, she effectively led a team that spanned the four participating countries –Ghana, Togo, Benin and Nigeria -to undertake governmental and community relations and public relations responsibilities as part of the Chevron-led project management group.
Currently, Esther is the Chief Executive Officer of Stratcomm Africa, a company she has grown from a study table into a well-respected total communication agency. As the Lead Communication Strategist for her Company, she ensures top quality work for clients. Her emphasis on innovation, creativity and her deep-rooted knowledge of the fundamentals of communications has been instrumental in securing many high profile clients.
The establishment of this enterprise was borne out of Esther’s conviction that scientific and professional communication is valuable, especially to achieve development objectives of communities and nations as well as commercial objectives of organisations and individuals. Esther has a passion for the value of effective communication processes for national development and international understanding, and she is constantly exploring communications strategies for diffusing innovation and for bringing about understanding among people.
This year, Stratcomm Africa turned 31.
Esther has been a consultant for numerous organizations in a variety of sectors, developing and implementing communication and reputation management strategies to support their work. She is a member of a number of professional bodies. She is the President of the International Public Relations Association (IPRA) and the President of the Institute of Public Relations, (Ghana). She also has several publications to her credit.
Esther also established the Centre for Development and Intercultural Communication (CEDIC), an NGO that seeks to promote and facilitate development through communication. Under her direction, CEDIC has trained numerous young people in under privileged communities in the effective use of theatre for development. She is currently spearheading a project in improving the reading and writing skills in public schools, through reading clinics under the name, ‘Read It, Write It, Say It.
