Boafo was born in Pakistan.[1] She is of Ashanti (Ghanaian) ethnicity.[2] She was raised in Sudan, Ethiopia, Geneva and Kenya, but is a citizen of Ghana.[3][1] In 2001, after graduating from high school, Boafo travelled to the United States to study French and communication.[1]
Boafo made her acting debut as Asa in the 2012 short film Asa, A Beautiful Girl.[5] In 2014, Boafo began portraying Nana Yaa in Nicole Amarteifio's web TV series An African City. Her character is a journalist who struggles to afford rent in Accra, analogous to Carrie Bradshaw in Sex and the City. Boafo noticed the role on a Facebook page, and because she was travelling she sent a videotaped audition to Amarteifio, who called a week later.[6]
In 2014, she starred in Bus Nut, an experimental short film in which she read the words from the trial of Rosa Parks. It premiered at the San Francisco Film Festival.[1]
In 2015, Boafo had a small role in The Family Fang. She appeared in the short films New York, I Love You and Olive in 2016.[7] From 2017 to 2018, she starred as Paulina in the play School Girls, which was inspired by Mean Girls.[8]
Boafo was nominated for the Lucille Lortell Award and the Los Angeles Drama Circle Award for best actor, and received the Drama Desk award for her performance.[9] She played HIV patient Abena Kwemo in a 2018 episode of Chicago Med.[10] In 2019, she played private investigator Briana Logan in the TV series Bluff City Law.[9] Boafo portrayed Zainab in the TV series Ramy in 2020.[11]
Boafo made a video in reaction to the death of Freddie Gray in Baltimore titled "As Nina", as she reportedly bears a resemblance to the late singer Nina Simone.[1] In addition to English, she speaks Twi.[2]
