Dr. Bawumia graduated from Tamale Secondary School in 1982. He obtained a Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma in the United Kingdom with distinctions in Monetary Economics, Accountancy, Law and Banking Principles from Emile Woolf College of Accountancy, London, England in 1984. Dr. Bawumia also completed a B.Sc. degree in Economics (First Class Hons.) at the University of Buckingham, UK. He graduated with a Masters in Economics from Oxford University in 1988 and a PhD with Specialisation in Macroeconomics, International Economics, and Monetary Economics from Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia., Canada in 1995.

Dr. Bawumia worked for the International Monetary Fund (IMF) from 1994 to 1996. He left the IMF for a teaching position with the Hankamer School of Business at Baylor University in Texas, USA. After leaving Baylor University in 2000, Dr. Bawumia started his career at the Bank of Ghana as a Senior Economist. He held positions such as the Head of Monetary Policy and Financial Stability, Special Assistant to the Governor, Capital Market Committee Chairman, Monetary Policy Committee Member, and Deputy Governor.

Dr. Bawumia is currently the Vice President of Ghana. He assumed office on the 7th of January, 2017.