U.S. Ambassador To Ghana Visits Bunge Loders Croklaan

The U.S Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie Sullivan, on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, visited the Bunge Loders Croklaan shea butter processing facility at the Free Zone Enclave.

The visit was to have a first-hand experience of Bunge’s operations in Ghana and have an interaction with management. Bunge Loders Croklaan in 2019 opened its shea plant to process shea butter made from locally collected and crushed shea nuts into two products – shea olein and shea stearin.

The Ambassador was briefed on the companies history and operations across the globe, including its sustainability efforts to support the women involved in the collection of shea nuts as well as environmental sustainability efforts in shea nut production. Amb. Sullivan was also given a tour of the company’s facilities, including its fully automated solvent fractionation plant, which the company says is the largest facility of its kind in Africa.

 

The facility at the free zone enclave is the company’s first shea processing plant in Africa, and Bunge Loders Croklaan says that the site will allow it to meet the growing global demand for shea.

Bunge Loders Croklaan has more than two centuries of experience, unmatched global scale, and deeply rooted relationships everywhere they operate.

They provide ingredients and know-how to some of the world’s biggest brands with products such as specialty oils and milled grains, which are key ingredients for consumer and restaurant brands – and in home kitchens around the world.

 

The Dynamics Of Modern Health Data – TechGulf

The increasing need for data storage solutions within the healthcare industry today has come with extensive convenience and the oversight it has introduced in terms of data management, availability, protection, and adoption have proven vital to the industry. The knowledge of the dynamics of modern health data is essential for Healthcare institutions in Ghana in order to make the right decisions to be up to date and for future compliance. These are the relevant dynamics:

Data Growth

Managing exponential data growth is painstaking. Hospitals, in particular, struggle to keep up with the rapid growth of their electronic records. Hospitals and other healthcare facilities are experiencing increasing demand for data storage devices and backup hard drives in order to manage rapidly expanding volumes of patient data. The demand for electronic health records and high-quality document imaging has necessitated the need for hospitals to protect their digital information.

Data Availability

Data loss in any health facility would be a huge tragedy. Hence, data management and storage measures to ensure this never happens must be implemented immediately. Sensitive data such as surgical videos, X-ray images, CT scans, sonographic results, cardiac catheterizations, patient files, and databases need to be protected and secured. The routine storage and transmission of large files such as CT scans, MRIs, and other diagnostic images and the rollout of electronic patient health records, system integrators require reliable and durable data backup solutions for all users.

Data Management

Data management tasks co-exist stressful healthcare delivery in today’s hospitals. The healthcare delivery project flows through patient data administration, coordination of examination dates, filing of laboratory results. This information must be secured against data loss which might be caused by various incidents. Consequently, X-ray pictures, cardiograms, or magnetic resonance imaging data have to be archived for several years. Additionally, patient data needs to be kept to get a long-term overview about the progression of a disease.

Data Adoption

Ghana’s Ministry of Health has mandated that public and private health care providers must transition their practices to electronic health records. The benefits are clear: critical patient histories and records follow patients no matter where they seek treatment, and that same paperwork is less likely to go missing somewhere in a transition or due to misfiling. This mandate is just one reason among many why the health care industry has become so data-hungry. Another is general legal preparedness since the careful handling of records is essential in such a risk-averse business.

Data Center

Thanks to modern technology, the health care industry is getting a top-to-bottom overhaul, legislation, and a changing demographic landscape. By the end of 2020, the health care industry was expected to spend close to $2.7 trillion per annum on IT infrastructure, including data centers.

This reflects a great change in the process health services are administered, making the availability, affordability, and uptime of data centers now a top priority to health system administrators.

An increasing number of patients are appreciating the importance of telemedicine. This is common in the mental health care space, where telemedicine uses technologies like VPNs and video conferencing software to remotely meet with patients.

The objective of the data storage management system is to ensure data is up to code with the world’s ever-evolving privacy and security regulations and best practices needed in order to realize the benefits of modern technology.

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