Mr. Henry Hanson-Hall was born on 14th June 1950 in Asikasu, Odumase in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He attended Ghana Secondary School, Koforidua from 1968 to 1974 where he obtained his G. C. E. Ordinary and Advanced Level Certificates.

He joined the Foreign Service as Branch "B" officer in October, 1974 and after furthering his education at the university of Ghana, Legon, he was awarded a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Law and Modern History in 1979. Thereafter, he entered into the Administrative Class as Foreign Service Officer (FSO) A5.

Between 1984 to 1985, he was admitted to the University of Nairobi, Kenya where he successfully completed his post graduate Diploma course in International Relations.

With his background in law, Mr. Hanson-Hall went to the Ghana Law School where he obtained his professional Law Certificate (LLB) in 1986 and qualified as a lawyer.

Mr. Hanson-Hall has participated in several workshops and seminars, including the UN Seminar on Arms Control and Disarmament (1981) and the UN Seminar on Private and Public International Law at Hague Academy of International Law from 7th July to 15th August 1986. He also attended a course in Refugee Law and Doctrine at the UN High Commission for Refugees in Geneva from 18th August to 7th November 1986 as well as the 11th Refugee Law course at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy in 1995.

He was also a member of Ghana's delegation to a number of Meetings and Conferences including: the Preparatory and Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana, Cuba-1982, the Preparatory meetings of the Quadripartite meeting of Benin, Ghana, Nigeria and Togo in Lome, Togo.- 1984, the Ghana/Libya Permanent Joint Commission for Cooperation in Accra - 1987, West African Human Rights Conference held in Cotonou, Benin -1988, Ghana/Coted'Ivoire Joint Commission for Cooperation - 1993 -1996, Meetings of the International Seabed Authority in Kingston, Jamaica at various times.

Through his experience and dedication to work, Mr. Hanson-Hall rose through the ranks and was promoted to Foreign Service Officer (FSO) A1.

He served in various positions at different Diplomatic Missions of Ghana. Between 1988 to 1992, he served in Bonn, Germany. He was also posted to Ghana's Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1996 to 2000, where he served on various committees.

He became the Deputy Head of Mission at Ghana's Mission in The Hague in 2002, responsible for the International Criminal Court and returned to base in September 2006. He is currently the Director of Africa and AU Bureau of the Ministry.

The Africa and African Union Bureau is the foremost arm of the Ministry, responsible for:

(i) the provision of the necessary inputs for the formulation;
(ii) the coordination; and
(iii) implementation of Ghana's African policy.

The objective of Ghana's African Policy is to promote peace, security, stability, greater integration and sustainable political, economic and social development of the continent.

To this end, the Bureau liaises constantly with Ghana's diplomatic missions in Africa, African diplomatic missions in Ghana and other Ghanaian MDAs, especially the Ministry of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD.

In order to enhance Ghana's enlightened interests at the multilateral level, officials of the Bureau participate effectively in the meetings and programmes of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union (AU), the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) and the Community of Sahel-Saharan Countries (CENSAD), etc. which are, undoubtedly, the tools for the political and socio-economic development of the Continent.

At the bilateral level, the Bureau ensures that Ghana's policy of good neighbourliness is implemented to the letter.

In summary, the activities of the Bureau include the following:

F monitoring developments in Africa and providing political, economic and security information and advice to government on bilateral, regional, continental and international issues which impact on the interests of Ghana in particular, and Africa in general;

F the preparation of briefing notes, speeches, etc., and advising govern ment officials attending bilateral and multilateral meetings/conferences in the areas under our purview;

F processing of reports from Ghana's Missions in Africa and ensuring neces- sary follow-up action;

F initiating memoranda/policies on African issues for the consideration of the Minister of Foreign Affairs.

With respect to the organisational structure of the Bureau, as the name implies, the Bureau has two Sections. Each section is under the supervision of a Deputy Director.

The Africa Section of the Bureau is responsible for the bilateral relations between Ghana and other African countries, to ensure the promotion of friendly and mutually beneficial political and economic relations.

The African Union Section of the Bureau deals with issues relating to the African Union as well as sub-regional economic communities, such as the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Community of Sahel-Saharan States (CEN-SAD), among others.
The structure of the Africa and AU Bureau provides for a Director as head of the Bureau, two Deputy Directors and six other officers. The Bureau also has two Secretaries, a Registry Clerk and a Messenger.