Ghana, US sign MoU for joint investments in 11 sectors of economy

The Governments of Ghana and the United States of America Wednesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that will see the two nations partnering to beef up investments in eleven sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

This was after President Akufo-Addo met with a sixty-member delegations from the US led by the Secretary of Commerce, Wilbur Ross, at the Jubilee House to firm up the new US, Ghana investment project.

After the meeting, Deputy Minister for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, told journalists that the MOU signed will see Ghana benefiting from huge investments from the US government led by Donald Trump which is only comparable to a similar investment drive entered by the Nkrumah Administration some 60 years earlier.

“Sixty years down the line, President Akufo-Addo and the American government have entered into another big deal of this kind [referring to Nkrumah era]. This big deal is signify by an MOU that has just been signed today [Wednesday] as part of the visit of US Secretary of Commerce…with about 60 American businessmen and federal agencies who are here to engage with the Ghanaian business and government committees on a number of business opportunities or joint investment opportunities,” he told the press.

The MoU, he said “was to outline some of these opportunities and to commit both sides to jointly investing in these opportunities,” covering over 11 different areas including agriculture, industry, infrastructure, railway, energy among others.

He said the government is hopeful “in the direct discussions between the Ghanaian business communities and agencies and those on the American sides, we will now put some flesh to it and get some specifics outlined.”

The visit of Mr. Ross provides an opportunity for the US delegation to gather insight into market opportunities and challenges faced by US businesses in the fast-growing Ghanaian economy. The President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) will use the information to provide President Trump with reliable and actionable recommendations to deepen commercial relationships in Ghana.

This mission underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to both advance opportunities and to eliminate trade barriers to strengthen the US-Africa commercial relationship.

During the trip, PAC-DBIA members will gather country-specific information for use in making recommendations to the President to resolve issues related to underdeveloped capital markets, non-transparent and price-based procurement processes, and workforce development. Ghana was selected as the first country of visit due to the country’s stable political environment and pro-market government focused on rail, road, mining, and manufacturing development.