Ambassador Kyeremanten Visits West Coast

Ghana’s Ambassador to the US Alan Kyerematen has indicated that in other to link African-Americans with the continent of Africa, African-Americans will need to invest some of their resources in Africa where they would be more welcomed.

He said the political and economic stability of Ghana provides an enabling environment for African-American businesses and with their enormous resources could be harnessed and invested in various projects for the mutual benefits of both Americans and Africans.

Ambassador Kyerematen said this at the 17th African Marketplace and Cultural Faire held in Los Angeles in the US, which seeks to promote domestic and international business, particularly tourism.

Ambassador Kyerematen said that Ghana is the frontier of economic development and therefore attracting investments into the country would help lift her from poverty, which has characterized its economic life for decades. The Ambassador also visited San Francisco and Seattle and was accompanied by his Trade and Investment Minister, Mr. Seth Evans Addo.

He explained that Sub-Saharan African countries should among other things focus on expanding their production capacity and improve on the quality of their products to enable them effectively compete adding that Ghana, had to take strategic decisions aimed at developing its garment industry to enable it take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA)

He said there are over 7000 items that could be imported into the US free of duty and without quota limitation adding that Ghana intends to develop about 250 small and medium scale industries.

At town hall meetings with Ghanaians in all the three States visited, Ambassador Kyerematen explained some of the problems that the present administration inherited from the previous government as a crippling debt burden of over $6 billion, an inflation rate of over 45per cent, high interest rate of about 50 per cent, high unemployment rate, and a situation where 40 per cent of Ghanaians were living below the poverty line, among others.

In an ensuing dialogue at these meetings, some suggested to the Government to reduce bureaucracy and introduce transparency in the operation of some Government departments.

They complained about problems also encountered with the Ghana Customs, Excise and Preventive Service, and the Registrar-General’s Department in trying to register their businesses and recommended that the business registration process be decentralized.

The issue of political stability was also a matter of great concern for many and therefore advised on the need for the Government to beef up security, as this was considered critical for attracting foreign direct investment and Ghana’s overall development.

The Ambassador also had one-on-one meeting with four major apparel manufacturers on the West Coast, namely Levi Strauss &Co., San Francisco, Gap Inc, San Francisco, Eddie Bauer, Redmond, and Nordstrom in Seattle. The meetings were meant to explore the possibility of securing market with these companies for garments that would be exported from Ghana under the President’s special Initiative.

The meetings provided the Ambassador with the opportunity to brief the companies about the level of infrastructure currently in place for the garment program, as well as advantages accruing to businesses that would want to locate their operations in Ghana.

The representative of these apparels manufactures had accepted the Ambassador’s invitation to visit Ghana to acquaint themselves with the actual situation on the ground.

The Honorary Consul of Central African Republic, in Los Angeles, also hosted Ambassador Kyerematen at a business meeting and in attendance were the Consul General of Liberia in Los Angeles, and officials form the Economic Office of the State of California.

These meetings afforded the Ambassador the opportunity to request the establishment of a State of California Economic Office in Ghana to promote trade ad investment between the State of California and Ghana within the framework of the African Growth and Opportunity Act.. He made mention of the State of Missouri’s Economic Office in Ghana that had succeeded in enhancing trade between Ghana and the State of Missouri.

The Ambassador also met with Officials of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle. The Foundation is a merger between the Gates Foundation and the William H. Gates Foundation. The Ambassador was briefed about the foundation’s activities, which range from bridging the digital divide through the establishment of libraries and improving access to global health.

The Ambassador later paid a courtesy call on the Mayor of Kent, Washington State who pledged to assist Ghana’s Fire and Police Services. Both decided to explore the possibility of establishing a sister city relationship between the port city of Tema and Kent.