[1][2] Clement Anderson Akrofi was born in Apirede in the Akuapem area of the Eastern Region of Ghana.
[1][2] In 1873, his parents, Andreas Kwaku Adu and Rosina Akosua Twewa, who were subsistence farmers, were among the first batch of congregants to join the then newly established Basel Mission Church in Apirede.
[1][2] He was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in theology (Doctor Honoris Causa) by the Johannes Gutenberg University in Mainz, Germany “for his contributions towards the development of the Twi language and the advancement of Christian literature.”[1][2] In his acceptance speech, he remarked: “I do not forget that I am receiving this honour primarily as a servant of the Gospel.
[1][2] Akrofi's contribution to the reading of the vernacular in written form rather than orally and translating Christian literary works is seen as greatest achievement in the development of the indigenous African Church as well as the teaching of Twi as a subject in the Ghanaian educational curriculum.
This fits into the wider Basel Mission legacy of linguistic development to allow African Christians read the Bible in their own native languages.