About

Professor Ofosu-Mensah Emmanuel Ababio, a renowned Economic and Social Historian at the University of Ghana, is an expert in the field of mining history in West Africa. His scholarly work has appeared in esteemed academic publications including Africa Today, the Journal of African History, the Journal of Asian and African Studies, the International Journal of African Historical Studies, and Cogent Arts and Humanities. Professor Ababio has published with Nova Science and his latest work is titled The Slippery Paths of Commemoration and Heritage Tourism: The History of Gomoa Nsuaem and Its Slave Route. This book delves into the slave heritage memory and commemoration by investigating the history of Gomoa Nsuaem in Ghana’s Central Region. He brings to light a slave route which ran from Ayensuadze to Tekyiam known as the “Asamandze Road” and interrogates the internal struggles of a village burdened by an undesired relationship with slave dealers. His profound knowledge of mining history has facilitated his involvement in esteemed international conferences, including International conference on mining and mineralogy held in Munich Germany in July 2021; African Studies Association of the U.K biennial conference (AASAUK) held at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom in 2018; the symposium of Archaeology and History of Material culture in Africa and in the Africa Diaspora, held at the Federal University of Mina Gerias at Belo Horizonte in Brazil in November 2016; The XV Balkan minerals Congress (BMPC) held in June 2013 in Sozopol Bulgaria; and the 9th International Mining History Congress (9th IMHC) held in Johannesburg South Africa in April 2012.

Research Interest

I am an Economic and Social Historian with special interest in Mining in Ghana and issues in Migration in the West African sub-region. My current research interest focuses on the following themes:

• History of Gold Mining and Current Issues in the Mining Sector in Ghana with particular focus on Akyem Abuakwa and Adanse (Obuasi) Traditional Areas.
• Impact of Artisanal Mining on the Ecology of affected communities in Ghana.
• History of the Extractive Industries-Gold and Diamond Mining: Oil and Gas in Ghana.
• Historiography and Reconstruction of Migration in West Africa.

Publications

Project Title: Pre-Colonial Gold Mining in Banda
PIs: Prof Emmanuel Ofosu-Mensah and Edmund Smith
Funder: University of Manchester
 

Recent Publications

1. Bempong E. Sarfo. J.K., Ofosu-Mensah, E. A., Adu-Gyamfi S. (2026). A History of Forest Conservation in Akyem Abuakwa. Modern Africa: Politics, History, and Society. 
2. Manu-Osafo, M. J., & Ofosu-Mensah, E. A. (2026). Armed Robberies in Colonial Asante: Official denial, Private Speculation, and the Perpetuation of Stereotype, 1935–45. Journal of Social History. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsh/shag016
3. Ababio A.M, Ofosu-Mensah E.A., Nimoh M., Kusaana M.M. (2026). The Integration of Migrants into Host Communities in the Asante Region of Ghana: A Case Study of Nkawie Community From 1900-1980. Journal of African Political Economy & Development.
4. Ofosu-Mensah E.A, Sarfo J.K. (2026). The History of Gomoa Nsuaem and Its Slave Route Heritage in Ghana's Central Region. Abibsem: Journal of African Culture and Civilization.
5. Ampadu S.K., Sarfo J.K., Ofosu-Mensah, E. A. (2026). Cracks in The Screen: Race, Infrastructure and Reception in Ghana’s Radiographic Modernity, 1923-1957. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences.
6. Ofosu-Mensah E.A (2026). A Review of The History of Woarawoara Government Hospital., by Nana Owusu Afari: Digi Books, 2021.xxii+pp. 62. African Historical Review.
7. Alibah, M., & Ofosu-Mensah, E. A. (2025). Migrants’ Personal Development: A Historical Focus  On Nzema Migrants in Cote D’ivoire, 1893 to 1995. African Economic History.