Kofi Annan is a former Secretary General of the United Nations, the seventh, who served between January of 1997 and December 2006. He was born in Comassie, Gold Coast (now Kumasi, Ghana) on the 8th of April 1938.
How rich is Kofi Annan? As of early 2017, his net worth has been estimated at $5 million, earned over his diplomatic and political career which began in the early 1960s.
Kofi Annan Net Worth $5 million
Annan was born in Ghana to a wealthy family – his name means “born on Friday” – both his maternal and paternal grandfathers had been tribal chiefs. He had a twin sister, Efua, who passed away in 1991. He attended Mfantsipim boarding school until 1957, and then the Kumasi College of Science and Technology, where he studied economics. He then studied at Macalaster College in Minnesota, USA, before going on to further study at The Graduate Institute of International and Developmental Studies in Geneva in 1961.
In 1962 Annan began work with the World Health Organisation. Between 1974 and 1976, he worked as the director of tourism for Ghana, then took positions as Assistant Secretary General at the UN during the 1980s, as human resources coordinator, finance controller, and finally, as secretary of peacekeeping operations until 1996.
In 1996, Annan was appointed Secretary General of the UN, replacing Boutros Boutros-Ghali. His term began officially on the 1st of January 1997, and he was elected again in 2001 for a second term. He made the AIDS crisis a special priority, and took steps to help countries badly affected.
On the 19th of September 2006, Annan made his farewell speech in New York at the UN Headquarters. He discussed the importance of continuing efforts to overcome “an unjust world economy, world disorder, and widespread contempt for human rights and the rule of law”. After leaving the UN, he took part in numerous projects in Africa; it was predicted for a time that he might become the next President of Ghana. He became a member of “The Elders”, an international group of influential people and leaders organized by Nelson Mandela; they worked together to promote peace and the preservation of human rights.
In 2012, Annan released his memoir, “Interventions: A Life in War and Peace”, co-written with Nader Mousavizadeh. Over the course of his life, he has been given numerous honours, including the Companion of the Order of the Star of Ghana in 2000. In 2001, Annan was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, split with the UN, in recognition of the work he had done to reinvigorate the organisation. He has also received over two dozen honorary degrees, from universities including Brown, Howard, and Tilburg.
In his personal life, Annan married in 1965 to a Nigerian woman named Titi Alakija. Together, they had two children, a daughter, Ama, and son Kojo, now a prominent businessman. The couple separated in 1983, and a year later, Annan remarried Nane Lagergren, a United Nations lawyer from Sweden. They had one child, a daughter. He speaks Akan, English and French fluently, and is proficient in several other African languages.
