Joshua Alabi

Academic and Politician

NationalityGhanaian

Profession Academic and Politician

Nationality Ghanaian

About Joshua Alabi

Professor Joshua Alabi is a Ghanaian academic, politician, and administrator whose career has moved fluidly between the lecture hall and the campaign trail. He is best known for transforming the University of Professional Studies, Accra into one of Africa's fastest-growing universities and for his senior roles within the National Democratic Congress over three decades of party life. Alabi pursued his higher education in the Soviet Union, earning his academic credentials through an institution that shaped a generation of Ghanaian professionals during the era of Cold War scholarship exchanges. His formation gave him both a rigorous academic foundation and an internationalist perspective that informed his later approach to institutional development. The University of Professional Studies, Accra subsequently conferred an honorary doctorate on him in recognition of nearly five decades of service and transformational impact. His association with UPSA spans virtually the whole of his adult life. He served as Pro-Rector from 2005 to 2008, Rector from 2009 to 2012, and became the institution's inaugural Vice-Chancellor when UPSA was elevated to full university status in 2012, holding that post until 2016. Under his leadership, UPSA grew its programmes, its student population, and its physical campus at a rate that earned it recognition as Africa's fastest-growing university. The institution honoured him with the Order of the Volta for his transformational leadership. Alabi's political life has run in parallel with his academic career. He served as NDC Member of Parliament for the Krowor Constituency in Greater Accra from 1997 to 2001, holding ministerial portfolios covering the Greater Accra and Northern Regions. He served as Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the NDC from 2001 to 2005. In 2018 he entered the NDC presidential primary, contesting the flagbearer position ahead of the 2020 general election. When the NDC launched its 2024 campaign behind John Mahama, Alabi was named National Campaign Manager, one of the most senior operational roles in any Ghanaian election. The appointment reflected both his organisational experience and his long record of loyalty to the party, and the NDC's December 2024 victory confirmed his credentials as a campaign organiser.