Grant was appointed as Black Stars coach late last year and will take charge of his first international tournament at the African showpiece in Equatorial Guinea.
Ghana have not won the competition since 1982 but with the likes of Asamoah Gyan and brothers Andrew and Jordan Ayew, Grant's men have a strong chance of making of making good progress at the tournament.
Atsu - on loan at Everton from Grant's former employers Chelsea - feels the new coach's pedigree will prove key for Ghana.
"I was very happy that we have a very good coach. He has a very high profile, we know he was in Chelsea and he can help the team to move forward," Atsu told Perform.
"We had great coaches who applied for the job and when you hear the news in Ghana, a lot of the fans prefer Avram Grant because of his profile, because of his experience and because of how far he has gone in football.
"The fans love him and they are looking for him to build the team not just to win African Cup but to build a team and then in the future we can win something for Ghana.
"I think he's the right man. For 32 years now, we haven't won the African Cup and the fans are really angry with the players.
"So I think we also needed a good coach to lead us and I think Avram Grant will be the man to lead the Black Stars to victory."
Ghana have been grouped with Algeria, South Africa and Senegal for the competition and will begin their campaign against the latter on January 19.
"We have the most difficult group," Atsu added.
"Senegal, they are very strong. You can see their foreign players are doing well, such as [Newcastle United striker] Papiss Cisse.
"We also have Algeria and I think they are the most difficult opponent we have in the group and also South Africa. So we have to give our best and everyone says it is the most difficult group we have in the tournament.
"I think Algeria have a well balanced team and they can cause a lot of problems for us and also for a lot of other countries while South Africa are balanced from attack to defence, they are really organised.
"I also believe Ghana can go far in this tournament."
Watch every match of the Africa Cup of Nations LIVE on British Eurosport HD or sign up to Eurosport Player and follow the action on mobile, tablet and other devices: www.eurosportplayer.com
