We are honored to have Ghana’s Minister of Trade, Hon. Alan Kyerematen and the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Constance Hamilton, to deliver the keynote speeches at the #2021USGhanaBusinessForum, which comes off on September 8 to 9, 2021.
The #2021USGhanaBusinessForum will be under the theme; Promoting U.S.-Ghana Partnership through Trade and Investment, and is organized in collaboration with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in partnership with the Embassy of Ghana, Washington DC, United States Commercial Service, Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, and the Ghana – Houston Chamber of Commerce.
The forum seeks to provide insights into the evolving relations on trade and investment between the U.S., Ghana, and the African continent, and share knowledge and experiences of U.S. and Ghanaian private sectors who have invested in the U.S. and Ghanaian economies.
It will also provide first-hand information about the trading performance after almost 9 months of trading under AfCFTA and share how investors can take advantage of the trade and investment opportunities under the
AfCFTA in existing and emerging sectors.
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Alan Kyerematen is the current Minister of Trade and Industry of Ghana, having served in the same capacity between 2003 and 2007. He has an extensive and distinguished record in international trade and public policy, enterprise development, politics, and diplomacy. He is a former Ambassador to the US, UN Policy Advisor, Lawyer and Senior Corporate Executive. As Ghana’s Minister of Trade, Industry, and Presidential Special Initiatives from 2003 to 2007, he led the design, development, and implementation of innovative programs and special interventions which have become new strategic pillars of growth for the Ghanaian economy. He also played a key role in shaping Africa’s Trade Policy agenda in the WTO, the EU-ACP Economic Partnership Negotiations, AGOA, and UNCTAD.
Prior to his appointment as Minister, Mr. Kyerematen served as Ambassador of Ghana to the United States of America from 2001 to 2003. In that role, he negotiated various landmark trade and investment agreements between Ghana and the United States and initiated the establishment of the Ghana-United States Economic Council, which played a strategic role in deepening trade relations between the two countries. Between 1998- 2001, Alan Kyerematen served as the first Regional Director of ENTERPRISE AFRICA, UNDP’s flagship initiative for the development and promotion of small and medium enterprises in Africa. Under that framework, he established enterprise support programmes in 13 Sub-Saharan Africa countries – Botswana, Benin, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. Over 4,000 African entrepreneurs and small businesses have benefited from these programmes.
In 1990, Alan Kyerematen was responsible for establishing and managing the EMPRETEC Programme in Ghana, a leading business development institution sponsored by the United Nations and Barclays Bank Limited. He led the transformation of EMPRETEC from a UN project into an independent Foundation, which is recognized as a world-class institution and best practice model for entrepreneurship development in Africa. Between 1984 and 1990, he managed a number of major private and public sector consulting assignments in Ghana, as a Principal Consultant and Head of Public Systems Management with the Management Development and Productivity Institute (MDPI), a leading management development institution in Ghana. Prior to this, he was a senior corporate executive with UAC Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever International, where he worked in various managerial positions with a distinction between 1977-1984.
As Coordinator of the African Trade Policy Centre of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, from July 2011-December 2013, Alan Kyerematen led efforts in building capacity in various African countries in trade policy formulation and trade negotiations. In addition, he was a leading member of the technical team of the African Union that developed the Action Plan for the establishment of a Continental Free Trade Area for Africa, to be launched in 2017.
Alan Kyerematen is a graduate in Economics from the University of Ghana and is also a qualified Barrister-atLaw from the Ghana Law School. In addition, he was a Hubert Humphrey Fellow at the School of Public Affairs and the School of Management of the University of Minnesota, under the US Fulbright Fellowship Programme. He was a Member of the Council of Governors of the British Executive Service Overseas (BESO) in the United Kingdom and has also served as a Board member of several other organizations in Ghana. In 1994, Mr. Kyerematen was listed as one of the top 100 Global Leaders for the New Millennium by the Time International Magazine together with other personalities such as Bill Gates and John F Kennedy Jnr. of the United States of America. In 2013, he was nominated by the Heads of States of the African Union to contest as Africa’s candidate for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO).
Constance Hamilton is the Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, Office of the United States Trade Representative. In this capacity, she leads U.S. trade efforts in the 49 countries of sub-Saharan Africa and oversees the Administration’s implementation of the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). Ms.
Hamilton is responsible for developing and advancing bilateral, regional and multilateral U.S. initiatives to enhance U.S. trade and economic cooperation with sub-Saharan Africa.
Ms. Hamilton previously served as the Deputy Assistant U.S. Trade Representative for Africa, where she advanced measures to open markets and improve the investment climates in African countries.
Prior to joining USTR, Ms. Hamilton served as Supervisory Economist and Chief of the Asia-Africa Division at the U.S. International Trade Commission (USITC). In this position, she led the agency’s analysis of African and Asian trade and investment issues. During her tenure at the USITC, Ms. Hamilton directed and planned special research studies on a broad range of regional and trade topics, including free trade area agreements, trade with non-market economy countries, and industrial targeting.
Before joining the U.S. International Commission, Ms. Hamilton was an Economist with the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights where she developed methodologies and survey instruments for research into social and economic issues pertinent to the mission of the agency. Ms. Hamilton began her career as a Research Associate with the Urban Institute, a non-profit think tank specializing in research in the areas of public finance, economic development, and housing.
Ms. Hamilton holds a B.A. Degree in Economics and a Masters’ Degree in Economics from Howard University. She is co-author of numerous publications in the field of international trade.
The US-Ghana Business Forum is an annual flagship, high-level meeting between U.S, Ghanaian Government Officials, and Businesses aimed at deepening diplomatic and commercial partnerships between Ghana and the United States.
The 2021 Forum is premised on the theme: Promoting U.S.-Ghana Partnership through Trade and Investment and comes on the back of Ghana’s hosting of the Africa Continent Free Trade Area Secretariat and also after several months of trading through the AfCFTA. The AfCFTA is the world’s largest free trade area in terms of number of countries encompassing 1.2 billion people and about US$2.5 trillion. The AfCFTA presents a window for African countries and their trading partners to take advantage of the many trade and investment opportunities created. Trading partners who had hitherto focused on bilateral trade relations, now have the opportunity to reach larger African markets through the AfCFTA.
The 2021 Forum aims to strengthen trade and investment, promote business partnerships, and opportunities between U.S. and Ghanaian Companies in key sectors including: Technology and digitization, Energy and Mining, Infrastructure, Manufacturing, Services and Franchising. The forum will also review trading under the AfCFTA and assess how U.S. and Ghanaian companies can take advantage of this opportunity.
The event will be virtual to be held over two days. The forum will have several sessions including plenary with high-level government officials as speakers; panel discussions on sectors involving experts and senior U.S. and Ghanaian Officials and leaders from the business community. It will serve as a platform to explore new business opportunities and address regulatory challenges affecting trade and investment. Further access details will be sent following registration. Register Here
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