An Agribusiness practitioner trained in Agricultural Economics and Marketing obtained a BSc from the University of Ghana Legon in 1988. He has a Global EMBA from The Zurich campus class of 2016 of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS). Mr. Kotey is currently a Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Newage Agric Solutions Limited, set up to provide new technology and agronomic solutions with an emphasis on mechanization and digitization to improve the yield and productivity of farmers in Ghana.
Mr Kotey was the Managing Director for RMG Ghana Ltd from 2015 to 2020, concurrently from 2018 as Managing Director of Wienco Ghana Ltd now known as RMG Commodities Ltd having been General Manager for Wienco Ghana Ltd for more than 10 years in charge of product development, promotion, new businesses, customer and client development and relationship building, setting up of and maintenance of distributorships and distribution networks, maintaining key links with international suppliers, external private and public, agencies and industry regulators etc.
He recently obtained the Certificate of Management Excellence (CME) specialising in Leadership, Strategy, Negotiation and Innovation from the Harvard Business School.
He held various positions including Marketing Manager from the year 2000 – 2004 when he became General Manager. He was the team leader in co-ordinating various trials and testing of new maize seed varieties in Ghana leading to the introduction and adoption of 2 key Pannar and Lake 601 Hybrid Maize seeds. He was also part of the team that led the official release of Pioneer 30Y87 and Seedco SC 719.
In Wienco Ghana Ltd, he was also in charge of commercializing several inputs tried tested and approved by the Cocoa Research Institute of Ghana, (CRIG) Tafo. Notable among them being Asaase Wura Special Cocoa fertilizer which transformed the yield of cocoa farms up to an average of up to 250% increments, fungicides such as Nordox Super 75, Ridomil Gold Plus 66 and Confidor Oteq low dose Insecticides. Similarly, setting up the Mazara N’Arziki farmers association and introducing high-tech input protocols that achieved yield increases of maize to an average of 5MT/Ha for these farmer members.
He conceptualized the Living Fields Agrichallenge program that provided practical training on agriculture and agribusiness to young graduates to set up their own businesses in the agricultural value chain. Season 1 successfully delivered the objective satisfactorily.
At RMG Ghana Ltd and RMG Commodities Ltd, he managed and led a large team of agronomists, marketers and business administrators among others, who are providing and transferring new technologies and agronomic support to farmers with a view to enabling them to improve their farming operations to increase productivity and yields of their farms (crops as Maize, rice, cocoa, cotton, and others) therefore making sure they operate farming as a business to improve their productivity.
Mr Kotey was the President/Chairman of CropLife Ghana up until 2021. He held this position for over 15 years. He was also the Chairman of the Ghana Agricultural Associations Business & Information Centre (GAABIC). In addition, He was a board member of Ghana Grains Council and a council member of Masara N’Arziki Farmers Association which was the largest maize farmers growing association in Ghana, during the period he was General Manager at Wienco Ghana Limited. He was the Chairman and Board member of Babator Farming Company (BFC) from 2021 to 2022. He also served as a Steering Committee member for the Babator Irrigation and Farming Hub (BIFH) from 2021 to 2022. He has served and continues to serve on some other organizations providing advisory services to these organizations.
He worked with the Africa Seed Trade Association (AFSTA) supported by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to set up the National Seed Trade Association of Ghana (NASTAG) which is currently operating strongly in the seed sector of Ghana. As a founding member, he served on the executive council for 2 years before handing over to the current executive council.
He has been a member of the management committee of the West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement (WACCI) since 2018 till date and is a regular visiting presenter to graduates of WACCI and Seed Science students of the College of Agribusiness at the University of Ghana Legon.
He also worked with TechnoServe as a Business Advisor for 8 years and also worked as a Manager of Logistics, Operations and Shipping for a Horticulture Export Company, EMC exporting pineapples and other horticultural products to Europe between 1996 and 1999.
William Kotey holds a Directorship in Agrisolve Ghana Ltd, a specialized commodity trading company providing market linkages and logistical support to farmers in Ghana.
