US government announces $4.2m co-investments with five companies in Ghana
The United States government has announced new co-investments totalling $4.2 million with five companies in Ghana. The announcement was made by the US Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan during the US Embassy’s Providing Opportunity for Women’s Economic Rise (POWER) programme for women entrepreneurs from Ghana and the North American diaspora.
The Ambassador indicated that the co-investments by the US Agency for International Development (USAID) with the five companies in Ghana, leveraged with private sector funds will help the companies scale up operations, develop export opportunities, and create jobs.
The five companies are; AMAATI Company Ltd, DTRT Apparel, FreezeLink, Maphlix Trust, and Nuts 4 Growth.
A press release from the Embassy says as part of Women’s History Month, the Embassy, in collaboration with Howard University and the International Trade Centre, is hosting the Women’s Empowerment Lab.
“The programme will help Ghanaian and American women entrepreneurs take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) to grow their businesses by seizing export opportunities, while facilitating networking opportunities across the Atlantic,” the release said.
Co-created at USAID/Ghana, the grants are aimed at deepening the United States’ commercial relationship with Africa in line with the Prosper Africa Initiative, the African Growth and Opportunity Act, and President Biden’s Build Back Better World initiative, the release added.
“The West Africa Trade and Investment Hub was created to help entrepreneurs like those participating in the Women’s Empowerment Lab take advantage of export opportunities. Ghanaian companies can export more than 6,500 goods duty-free to the United States today, and the AfCFTA opens up a $3.4 trillion market. These co-investments will help these companies access African and U.S. markets, while creating jobs here in Ghana,” Ms Sullivan said.
The release states further that the grants build on USAID-Ghana’s work to drive large-scale development by supporting firms poised for growth.
By leveraging USAID’s co-investments, these companies are expected to generate over $45 million in private investment, increase exports by $166 million, and create more than 2,000 new jobs, mostly for women and youth, it added.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi