Editing Kojo Annan

{{Short description|Ghanaian-Nigerian businessman}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=January 2020}}
{{Lead too short|date=April 2016}}
{{Infobox person
| image              = Kojo Annan during Kofi Annan's funeral in Ghana.jpg
| name               = Kojo Annan
| caption            = 
| birth_name         = Kojo Adeyemo Annan
| birth_date         = {{birth date and age|df=y|1973|07|25}}
| birth_place        = [[Geneva]], Switzerland
| death_date         = 
| death_place        = 
| nationality        = 
| education          = [[Rydal Preparatory School]]<br> [[Rendcomb College]]
| alma mater         = [[Keele University]]
| occupation         = Businessman
| known for          = Only son of former UN [[Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]]
| spouse             = {{marriage|Shanthi Wilkinson|2014}}
| parents            = [[Kofi Annan]]<br> [[Titi Alakija]]
| children           = 
| relatives          = [[Adeyemo Alakija]] (grandfather)<br/>[[Kobina Annan]] (uncle)<br/>[[Aduke Alakija]] (aunt)
| website            = {{website|https://www.kojoannan.com/}}
}}

'''Kojo Adeyemo Annan''' (born 25 July 1973) is a Ghanaian-Nigerian businessman and son of the late former [[UN Secretary-General]] [[Kofi Annan]].

==Early life==
Kojo Annan was born in [[Geneva]], Switzerland, on 25 July 1973.<ref>{{cite web|last=Turner |first=Mark |url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/1/91150298-9fda-11d9-b355-00000e2511c8.html |title=How Kojo Annan left his father on the defensive |website=Financial Times |date=28 March 2005 |access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref>
Kojo Annan and his sister Ama Annan are from Kofi Annan's first marriage with Titi Alakija, a Nigerian. The couple separated when Kojo Annan was six years old and divorced two years later. After his parents separated, he lived with his father and spent holidays with his mother and sister. Kojo Annan's second name "Adeyemo" means "the crown befits the child" in [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.onlinenigeria.com/nigeriannames/ad.asp?blurb=2890|website=Online Nigeria: Nigerian Names and Meanings|title=Adeyemo|access-date=5 November 2014}}</ref> Kojo Annan is a maternal grandson of Sir [[Adeyemo Alakija]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fcS_BAAAQBAJ&q=adeyemo+alakija+titi+alakija&pg=PT243|title=Lagos: A Cultural and Literary History|access-date=14 November 2014|date=21 October 2013|author=Kaye Whiteman|isbn=978-190-84-9389-7|publisher=Andrews UK}}</ref>

Kojo Annan was educated in Wales at the independent [[Rydal Preparatory School]], and in England, at [[Rendcomb College]], where he excelled as a rugby player<ref name="Guardian">MacAskill, Ewen, [https://www.theguardian.com/international/story/0,3604,1447711,00.html "English public schoolboy turned businessman who 'disappointed' his father"], ''The Guardian'', 30 March 2005</ref> and subsequently at [[Keele University]]. He was also educated in Switzerland.<ref name="Guardian" />

==Career==
From 1995 to 1997, Kojo Annan worked in West Africa for the Swiss-based inspection company ''Cotecna'', then as a marketing consultant for the company.

In September 1998, Kojo Annan met with several heads of state and government ministers during the opening session of the [[United Nations General Assembly|U.N. General Assembly]]. In December, Cotecna won a $4.8&nbsp;million Oil-for-Food contract.<ref>Shawn, Eric, et al., [https://www.foxnews.com/story/how-close-was-kojo-annan-to-oil-for-food "How Close Was Kojo Annan to Oil-for-Food?"], Fox News Channel (input from ''The New York Post''), 3 December 2004.</ref>

Kojo Annan, [[Kofi Annan]] and Cotecna deny that the younger Annan was involved in the Oil-for-Food contract. Kojo Annan also claimed that connections with Cotecna severed after 1998; however, he continued to be paid by the company until February 2004.

The Second Interim Report by the IIC confirmed that Cotecna indeed won the Oil-for-Food contract fairly and based on merit. The Committee concluded that there was no link between Kofi Annan and the award of Cotecna's contract; and Cotecna had been transparent and cooperative through this investigation.<ref>{{cite news|title=Annan cleared over oil-for-food|date=29 March 2005 |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4391031.stm|publisher=BBC|access-date=17 November 2016}}</ref>

On 13 December 2004, Kojo Annan claimed that the probe into the Oil-for-Food Programme by [[United States congressional committee|U.S. congressional committees]] was "a witchhunt from day one as part of a broader [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] political agenda."<ref>Koinange, Jeff, [http://www.cnn.com/2004/WORLD/meast/12/13/un.annan.kojo/index.html "Annan's son: Probe 'a witchhunt'"], [[CNN]], 13 December 2004.</ref>

A January 2005 article in ''[[The Sunday Times]]'' announced that he had confessed involvement in the UN [[Oil-for-Food Programme]] scandal; in a libel settlement eleven months later, the paper announced that it now "entirely accepts that the allegation was untrue."<ref>Wald, Jonathan, [http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/europe/11/11/annan.libel/ "Annan's son settles UK libel case"], CNN, 11 November 2005.</ref>

[[Megadeth]]'s front-man [[Dave Mustaine]], mentioned Kojo Annan in the song "[[United Abominations]]", the title track of Megadeth's 2007 studio release. This song, based on the [[United Nations|UN]], sparked an official retort from the UN on 10 July by Mark Leon Goldberg of the [[United Nations|United Nations affairs blog]], UN Dispatch, who posted a rebuttal based on the accusations Mustaine made in the song.

In April 2016, he was [[list of people named in the Panama Papers|listed]] in a leaked confidential document, the [[Panama Papers]], revealing his use of offshore accounts.<ref name="Power Players">{{cite web |title=Panama Papers: The Power Players |url=https://panamapapers.icij.org/the_power_players/ |publisher=[[International Consortium of Investigative Journalists]] |access-date=3 April 2016}}</ref>

Kojo Annan currently holds interest in a number of start-ups and has founded Africa10 in 2016, a social enterprise focusing on the development of African youth through sports and education<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://africa10.com/|title=Africa10 – The Power Of 10 Creating a global A10 generation of champions|date=10 May 2017|work=Africa10|access-date=24 November 2018}}</ref>

== Personal life ==
In March 2014, it was reported that Kojo Annan had married Shanthi Wilkinson.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus.google.com/103127500093497035768/posts/ZjNXiF9BKgt |title=Kofi Annan's Only Son, Kojo, Weds The charming son of Kofi Annan, former… |date=6 March 2014 |access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://maestromedia.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/kojo-annan-bids-bye-bye-to-bachelors.html |title=Maestro'S Media: Kojo Annan Bids Bye-Bye To The Bachelor'S Club? |website=Maestromedia.blogspot.co.uk |date=21 March 2012 |access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/kojo-annan-alisa-swidler-and-shanthi-annan-attend-a-private-news-photo/498936100 |title=Boris Johnson Attends A Private View of the London Photography By Andrea Hamilton Exhibition |date=25 November 2015 |publisher=Getty Images |access-date=4 April 2016}}</ref>
He has two sons, born 2015 and 2018.<ref>[http://blog.mipad.org/meet-shanthi-annan/ ''Meet Shanit Annan''], 11 July 2018</ref> He is the son of former UN Secretary-General [[Kofi Annan]] and the nephew of Ghanaian diplomat [[Kobina Annan]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Kofi Annan, His Brother & Son Attacked|url=https://www.modernghana.com/news/84655/kofi-annan-his-brother-son-attacked.html|access-date=2021-02-11|website=Modern Ghana|language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Annan, Kojo}}
[[Category:Alumni of Keele University]]
[[Category:1973 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Businesspeople from Geneva]]
[[Category:People educated at Rendcomb College]]
[[Category:Kofi Annan]]
[[Category:Ghanaian people of Nigerian descent]]
[[Category:Ghanaian people of Yoruba descent]]
[[Category:Yoruba businesspeople]]
[[Category:Swiss people of Nigerian descent]]
[[Category:Swiss people of Ghanaian descent]]
[[Category:Swiss people of Yoruba descent]]
[[Category:People named in the Panama Papers]]
[[Category:Alakija family]]