Our Team
Joseph Opoku Gakpo
Co-founder and CEO
Joseph Opoku Gakpo is co-founder and chief executive officer of HavAfric. He previously worked as an agricultural development and communications consultant, providing services to various development organizations operating in Africa, including the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF); Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA); John A. Kufuor Foundation; German Development Corporation (GIZ's) Market-Oriented Agricultural Program, Grow Further - USA, among others.
He is a 2020 Agricultural Biotechnology in Our Evolving Food, Energy and Water Systems (AgBioFEWS) Fellow of North Carolina State University’s Genetic Engineering and Society Center and a 2016 Global Leadership Fellow of Cornell University’s Alliance for Science Program. He holds a BSc in Agricultural Biotechnology from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Ghana and is a Ph.D. Candidate in Agricultural Education & Human Sciences at the North Carolina State University, USA. He can be reached at joseph.gakpo@havafric.com.
Dr. Samuel Acheampong
Co-founder and CTO
Dr. Samuel Acheampong is co-founder and chief technology officer of
HavAfric. He is the first Ghanaian scientist to undertake CRISPR gene editing work. He holds a Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology from the University of Cape Coast (UCC) in Ghana, a Masters degree in Plant Breeding from North Carolina State University, USA, as well as an MPhil in Biotechnology and a BSc in Molecular Biology & Biotechnology from UCC.
He serves as a lecturer in the Molecular Biology and Biotechnology Department at UCC. He is a 2016 Borlaug Higher Education for Agricultural Research and Development Scholar, Michigan State University, USA. He can be reached at samuel.acheampong@havafric.com.