New USAID Director To Ghana

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has named Ms. Sharon Cromer, a development manager and a career officer with the Agency as its new Mission Director for Ghana.

Administrator Andrew S. Natsios swore Cromer in last Friday at the USAID headquarters in Washington, DC.

Cromer who has since left Washington DC to assume post visited the Ghana Embassy in Washington and pledged during the launch of the Ghana Skills Bank, to use the bank to execute some of her programs especially municipal and local government management.

According to the Minister Counselor of Information at the Embassy, Mr. Ivor Agyeman-Duah, Ms. Cromer has for the past sixteen years being working with USAID were she started as a Contracting Officer in Washington DC.

Her overseas assignment took her to Pakistan in 1988 after which she worked at the Regional Economic Development Services in Cote d’ Ivoire, Senegal and Indonesia. Before her current posting, Ms. Cromer was the Deputy Mission Director in Indonesia.

Ms. Cromer assumes duty in Ghana at a time of comforting relations between the United States and Ghana. It is also at a period when the Agency has ‘one of its largest and most complex programs in West Africa with more then 58 million dollar assistance to Ghana during the last fiscal year.’ The assistance has been in the areas of economic growth, democracy, health and private sector support as well as basic education and food aid.

Ms. Cromer who says she is excited about her new position is a native of Washington DC and received her bachelor’s degree from Barnard College at Columbia University and juris doctorate from the Georgetown University Law Center. She is married to Arnold Sobbers and has two daughters, Courtney and Simone.