Source: U.S. Embassy in Ghana

The U.S. Embassy joined the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) in Ghana yesterday to launch the 2023 SelectUSA Summit recruiting program.  The event attracted Ghanaian companies and individuals from a variety of economic sectors to highlight the benefits of investing in the United States.  In its 2022 report, Kearney Global Business Policy Council ranked the United States as the number one global destination for future Foreign Direct Investment for the tenth consecutive year.

“Our economic engagement with Ghana continues to grow.  One of our top priorities is to expand bilateral investment, not only into Ghana but into the United States as well,” explained U.S. Embassy Economic Section Chief Stephanie Hutchison at the event.  Ghanaian investments can help drive more exports of key locally sourced goods from Ghana to the United States.  She further explained that “investing in the United States can help Ghanaian companies diversify the goods and services that they provide and build their brand internationally.”

Hutchison highlighted the United States’ strong culture of innovation, as well as its business environment, labor force, diversity of industries, and lucrative domestic consumer market in her remarks.  The United States remains the largest recipient of inward foreign direct investment in the world with $5 trillion in cumulative investment at the end of 2021.

The event featured speakers from the U.S. Embassy, the American Chamber of Commerce, the Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA program, as well as from Ghanaian companies Ekumfi Fruits and Anning Bonsu Enterprises.

Acting Commercial Counselor Laurie Kelleher explained U.S. Government resources available to investors, including specific ways the SelectUSA Program can assist potential investors to identify opportunities and partners, find state and local resources, and navigate company registration and other investment processes.  She highlighted the benefits of attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the premier annual event dedicated to promoting investment into the United States.  SelectUSA attendees can participate in more than 100 dedicated sessions featuring C-Suite Executives, Cabinet Officials, U.S. Governors, and U.S. Economic Development Organizations from 51 U.S. States and Territories in one location. The 2022 SelectUSA Summit, the largest to date, attracted 3,000 attendees, including 1,400 companies from 70 foreign countries.

Dr. Obafemi Elegbede from SelectUSA described how to select a location for a business, register a company, and open a bank account in the United States. Other local speakers highlighted their experiences in the U.S. market, including the strong affinity for Ghana and Ghanaian products in the United States and complementary industries such as food processing, logistics, energy, software and IT services, and tourism, among others.

The Commercial Section of the U.S. Embassy will lead the Ghanaian delegation to the SelectUSA Summit, which will be held on May 1-4, 2023 in Washington, DC.  For more information about attending the SelectUSA Investment Summit, the SelectUSA Program, and investing in the United States, please visit the U.S. Embassy website section for businesses and investors: https://gh.usembassy.gov/business/getting-started-usa/