Abbott Laboratories Joins AmCham Ghana As Platinum Member

AmCham Ghana is pleased to announce Abbott Laboratories as our new Platinum Member.

Abbott understands that the first step to living your best life is good health. Everything they make is designed to help you do just that. That’s Abbott’s commitment to building life-changing technologies that keep your heart healthy, nourish your body at every stage of life, help you feel and move better, and bring you information, medicines, and breakthroughs to manage your health.

They create breakthrough products – in diagnostics, medical devices, nutrition and branded generic pharmaceuticals – that help you, your family, and your community lead healthier lives, full of unlimited possibilities. Today, 109,000 Abbott employees are working to make a lasting impact on health in the more than 160 countries they serve.

For more than 130 years, they have put science and innovation to work – to create more possibilities for more people through the power of health. Abbott adapts and responds quickly to changes in the world around us to deliver better solutions to help people live their best lives.

Abbott focuses on innovative technologies that can improve the way clinicians treat people with vascular diseases, irregular heartbeats, and diseases of the heart’s valves and other structures.

They believe people with diabetes should have the freedom to enjoy vigorous, active lives. Their systems help people with diabetes manage their health more effectively and comfortably with easy-to-use products that provide accurate data to drive better-informed decisions.

The key to successful treatment and full recovery is often fast, accurate diagnosis. Abbott’s life-changing tests and diagnostic tools provide insights that enable smarter, faster decisions and transform the way the world is managing health.

Google Joins AmCham Ghana

The American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana, is pleased to announce Google as our new Platinum Member.

Google is an American multinational technology company specializing in Internet-related services and products, including online advertising technologies, a search engine, cloud computing, software, and hardware.

Google is Alphabet’s largest subsidiary and is a holding company for Alphabet’s Internet properties and interests.

A robot pours popcorn from a cooking pot into a bowl on March 8, 2017 at the Institute for Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the university of Bremen, northwestern Germany.
Scientists of the institute work among others on “AI-based control methods for robotic agents, performing human-scale everyday manipulation-task”, and investigate “computing systems that assist humans at home, at work and during leisure activities”. / AFP PHOTO / dpa / Ingo Wagner / Germany OUT (Photo credit should read INGO WAGNER/AFP/Getty Images)

They offer services designed for work and productivity (Google Docs, Google Sheets, and Google Slides), email (Gmail), scheduling and time management (Google Calendar), cloud storage (Google Drive), instant messaging, and video chat (Google Duo, Google Chat, and Google Meet), language translation (Google Translate), mapping and navigation (Google Maps, Waze, Google Earth, and Street View), podcast hosting (Google Podcasts), video sharing (YouTube), blog publishing (Blogger), note-taking (Google Keep and Jamboard), and photo organizing and editing (Google Photos).

Google has moved increasingly into hardware; from 2010 to 2015, it partnered with major electronics manufacturers to produce its Google Nexus devices. It released multiple hardware products in 2016, including the Google Pixel line of smartphones, Google Home smart speaker, Google Wifi mesh wireless router. Google has also experimented with becoming an Internet carrier (Google Fiber and Google Fi).

Google in 2019 opened its first Africa Artificial Intelligence lab in Ghana to provide developers with the necessary research needed to build products that can solve problems that Africa faces today.

The center also focuses on enhancing Google Translate’s ability to capture African languages more precisely, with Cisse saying a continent with more than 2000 dialects deserves to be better served.

AmCham Ghana Engages Ministry Of Finance On Digital Taxation

The American Chamber of Commerce engaged the head of tax policy at the ministry of finance on Thursday, July 1st in Accra to discuss the government’s role out of taxing the digital economy.

The Chamber members present were drawn from the digital sector and it was an opportunity for them to make input into the ongoing taxation of the digital economy.

Mr. Daniel Nuer, Head of Tax Policy at the Ministry of Finance outlined the legal regimes for taxation of the digital economy. He also assured his audience that government will soon produce guidelines to define the process of paying taxes within the digital sector. “Our VAT and Income Tax laws have provisions for tax e-commerce activities, the guidelines to implement these laws will soon be available to assist companies to be compliant especially for non-resident entities.”

The discussions also addressed the issue of taxation on micropayments made online, the expansion of payment options, and the plight of non-resident entities in the digital economy. PwC and KPMG made presentations on best practices from some jurisdictions on the topic and encouraged the ministry to make the guidelines readily available.

Members of the committee present or represented at this meeting, included; VISA, Mastercard, TechGulf, Uber, Emergent, American Tower Corporation, Google, and officials of the U.S Embassy.

AmCham Ghana Networks Over Beer And Bites

On June 24, 2021, Django Brothers and Smoke ‘n’ Barrel hosted AmCham Ghana for a networking event at the Smoke ‘n’ Barrel bar and restaurant.

The event was to allow members to interact and network in a relaxed and casual environment. It also featured raffle draws with some members winning exciting prizes.

Smoke ‘n’ Barrel is all about its outside space. Wooden seating and planks behind a long bar create a homey atmosphere where ex-pats and locals meet to sip on beers and drinks.

The place features Takeout, Seating, Parking Available, Street Parking, Free off-street parking, Television, Wheelchair Accessible, Serves Alcohol, Full Bar, Wine and Beer, Table Service, Delivery, and Outdoor Seating.

Django Bros is West Africa’s first manufacturer of Craft beer & Beverages. Their Beers are handcrafted with the finest ingredients. Their vision is to brew flavorful & unique handcrafted beers, delivering an exquisite experience to the community.

Django currently has three beers IPA, WEISS & LAGER. Our Mixers are one of a kind & we believe they enhance the pleasure of the spirit they are consumed with. Their range includes Tonic water, Hibiscus Tonic water, Soda Water, Ginger Ale, Bitter Lemon & Smoky Cola Recommendation: Try the IPA beer for a treat of flavor & Aroma & Gin with our hibiscus tonic.

TechGulf Donates 1O,800 KN95 Nose Masks To Korle Bu

Technology company, TechGulf Ghana Limited, donated 10,800 KN95 nose masks to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital. The donation was to support the hospital’s fight against COVID-19.

TechGulf’s CEO, Franklin Asare, during the donation said, Korle Bu, is key to health care delivery in Ghana and TechGulf is willing and ready to assist the hospital in various capacities, including IT for data storage and telemedicine.

Present at the event was the CEO of Korlu Bu Teaching Hospital, Dr. Opoku Ware Ampomah, who received the items and expressed his appreciation of the kind gesture, stating it will go a long way to help the hospital protect its staff.  Also present were AmCham Ghana Executive Secretary, Simon Madjie, the hospital’s Director of Administration,  Munir Alhassan, and other senior staff of the hospital and TechGulf.

Gunner Hamlyn, Economic Officer at U.S. Embassy in Ghana, who was also present said the donation by the American-based company represents a significant form of assistance to the Korle Bu Teaching Hospital’s ability to provide quality healthcare and protect medical professionals.

TechGulf Ghana Limited was set up to execute and operationalize the mandate of TechGulf LLC in respect of
introducing US Technology Companies to the Africa Region. One of the key strategic partners of TechGulf is Overland Tandberg, which is a Silicon Valley-based technology company that provides full life cycle data management solutions.

Remarks By AmCham Ghana As Delivered By Simon Madjie To Senator Chris Van Hollen (Chair of the Subcommittee on Africa & Global Health Policy) | Africa-AmCham Summit

Senator Chris Van Hollen, thank you for taking the time to meet with us today. I’m Simon Madjie from AmCham Ghana and we have 120 members who are actively promoting a strong trade and investment relationship between the U.S and Ghana. AmCham Ghana has been the representative arm of U.S businesses and subsidiaries in Ghana for 32 years.

Bilateral trade between the United States and Ghana is about $1.8 billion and U.S FDI stock in Ghana in 2019 is about $1.6 billion. The United States and Ghana signed the Trade and Investment Framework Agreement in 1999 and in 2018, the two countries signed the Memorandum of Understanding to promote trade and investment in strategic sectors during the visit of Secretary Wilbur Ross and members of the PAC-DBIA to Ghana.

Ghana has since been chosen to host the secretariat of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) and trading within the Continent has commenced. “As we say in Africa, he who contributes to the building of a house will have a room in that home” This is the time, Honorable Senator, for the U.S Congress to assist Africa to build a credible and inclusive trade bloc, which will make it easier for U.S investors and traders to navigate the market. Areas of support may include; the digital economy, women and youth participation in trade, intellectual property rights protection, customs harmonization, and dispute resolution mechanisms.

I’m happy to announce that Marriott International and Development Alternatives Incorporated (DAI) headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland are some U.S companies from your home region making a significant contribution to Ghana’s development. At this point, I wish to request that more support is required from Congress to protect U.S companies during business aboard especially exporters of U.S goods and services.

The U.S business community in Ghana and on the Continent joins the call for the developed world to make available vaccines to combat the deadly COVID-19 virus. The U.S administration is commended for its bold plan to make available 500 million doses and the easing of the TRIPS agreement to allow less endowed countries to manufacture vaccines.

Again, thank you very much for meeting with us. Should you be interested in more information about Ghana and the AmCham, I would be delighted to follow up separately.

Advance With Africa AmCham Summit – Day 1

On June 16, 2021, the U.S. – Africa Business Center hosted AmChams from across the continent,  partners, stakeholders, and some government officials for the virtual Advance with Africa AmCham Summit to share the U.S. Chamber’s priorities and expectations for the new U.S. Government’s Administration as well as to strengthen advocacy capabilities to facilitate the ease of doing business in respective markets across Africa.

Day one of the summit featured a Presidential address from Ghana’s President, H.E. Nana Akufo-Addo on the Future of U.S. -Africa Economic Relations. The President reiterated the importance of the summit and the need to promote cooperation among countries to fight COVID -19 and foster shared prosperity. ”The importance of this event cannot be lost on anyone, especially as the nations of the world strengthen their cooperation to eliminate the scourge of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

”It is in the mutual interest of Africa and the United States of America, and indeed the rest of the world to forge relationships that will guarantee prosperity for us all,” the President added.

Other speakers at the summit included Scott Eisner, President of U.S.-Africa Business Center (USAfBC) at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, who delivered the welcome remarks, touching on the importance of making Africa engagement a presidential priority, capacity building to support the African continent’s free trade area, deepening and expanding the progress of a whole-of-government approach to enhance the competitiveness of U.S businesses on the continent, and engaging leaders on the continent on policy and regulatory practices to support the growth of the digital economy and trade.

The summit also featured remarks from Don Graves, Deputy Secretary of Commerce at the U.S. Department of Commerce on the State of U.S.-Africa Trade and Investment Relations, and Dana Banks, Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for Africa at the National Security Council, who presented An Overview of the Biden-Harris Africa Policy. 

The event also hosted panel discussions on Using the AfCFTA as a Vehicle for African Economic Recovery and Tools for Expanding U.S. Commercial in Africa.

WATCH THE FULL SEMINAR HERE

Swagelok Joins AmCham Ghana

The chamber is pleased to announce Swagelok Ghana as our new Gold Member. Swagelok Ghana is the local Sales and Service Centre for Swagelok, providing high-quality fluid management products, and unique problem-solving to fabrication, assembly & build.

Since 1947, Swagelok has been a values-based company committed to doing the right thing in all cases.

Their values orientation plays out in everything from supply chain management to engineering, manufacturing, fulfillment, and sales and service.

As a privately held company, they are not under pressure for short-term financial results. In all areas of business, they attempt to make decisions that are in the best long-term interests of their company, associates, sales and service centers, and customers.

The company’s services include Fabrication Assembly & Build, providing uniquely designed Swagelok solutions to your unique business issues, Tool and Equipment Rental, and Installation Training with a range of courses available to cover your installation training needs.

 

Contact:

+233 302 677469

+233 244 103579

+233 541 002144

info@xostafrica.com

ghana.swagelok.com

PSCAG Discusses Government’s Revenue Mobilization Drive

The Private Sector Anti-Corruption Group (PSCAG), an association-led institution made up of various Chambers in the country, held a closed-door discussion with officials of the Ghana Revenue Authority to assist the country to increase domestic revenue mobilization and discuss some associated challenges with tax collection.

The encounter held on Wednesday, June 10 at the Villa Boutique Hotel in Osu was attended by representatives of the GRA, PwC, KPMG, EY, and heads of the various Chambers of Commerce in the country.

Speaking on reforms at the GRA to aid tax collection, Deputy Commissioner Daniel Edisi, outlined new digital approaches to mobilize revenue across various sectors of the economy.

“Payment of taxes will be cashless and digital to speed up time spent paying taxes and improve accountability in the tax collection process”

In answering questions on the perception of harassment from GRA officials, Mr. Edisi urged the attendees to take advantage of the newly created Tax Audit and Quality Assurance Department (TAQA) to report such officers for investigations and swift sanctions applied.

“Report these recalcitrant officers on condition of unanimity to TAQA and they will be punished accordingly if investigated and found guilty”

Mr. Dominic Naab and Mr. Victor Akogo, also of the GRA addressed attendees and answered questions about withholding taxes, VAT, exemptions, and tax assessment. They advised businesses to desist from making false representations during tax audits. The trade associations also applauded the government for its digital drive in tax collection but urged the GRA to communicate and engage with businesses on regular basis. They also called on the government as a matter of urgency to broaden the tax net and operationalize the TAX APPEALS BOARD.

 

About PSCAG

PSACG is a private sector association formed by the U.K-Ghana Chamber of Commerce (UKGCC), American Chamber of Commerce-Ghana(AMCHAM), Canada Ghana Chamber of Commerce (CANCHAM), Ghana Netherlands Business and Culture Council (GNBCC), French Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ghana (FCCIG), and the Association of Ghanaian Industries (AGI) in 2018 with the goal of addressing practices that impact the private sector negatively through advocacy and strategic dialogues.