Americans invest $2.5b in Ghana over 15 years

Americans have invested in 167 projects worth $2.5 billion in terms of Foreign Direct Investments in Ghana over the last 15 years, the US Ambassador in Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum has said during trade talks between Ghana and US officials last week.

He also revealed that since the visit of President Barack Obama to Ghana last year the US Embassy in Ghana has seen a 100% to 200% increase in the number of enquiries from American businesses seeking to do business in Ghana.

According to Ambassador Teitelbaum, the US is Ghana’s 5th largest importer as Ghana exported products worth $135 million to the US last year, while on the hand, Ghana is America’s 4th largest importer with the country importing products worth $634 million from the US last year.

He also said in the first four months of 2010, Ghana’s cocoa paste and cocoa powder exports to the US grew substantially following two significant US investments in state-of-the-art cocoa processing facilities in 2009. The facilities are ADM in Kumasi, and Cargill in the Tema Free Zones Area.

He indicated that these were multi-million dollar investments that employ hundreds of Ghanaians in highly skilled labor, and contributing significant tax revenues to the government of Ghana.

In June 2010, “two new airline services were inaugurated by American flag carriers flying direct to Ghana, tripling the number of direct flights between our countries each week from 6 to 18, and tripling the numbers of ports of entry for Ghanaians taking direct flights to the US: New York, Washington, and Atlanta. Ghanaian exporters can now take advantage of the increased cargo capacity that these flights provide, and more American investors can come to Ghana from the US,” he said.

By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi