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.

Land Tours Ghana And Avis Rent A Car Support The Distribution Of 19,510 Face Masks

Land Tours Ghana and Avis Rent A Car are both contributing towards the distribution of 19,510 non-medical, fabric face masks to under-resourced health facilities in high-risk areas such as Nima, Madina, Ashaiman, Agloboshie, and Old Fadama.

The masks were funded in part by the USAID-supported West Africa Biodiversity and Climate Change Program (WABiCC), which has supported Global Mamas on other projects as well that improve the livelihoods of women.

The masks are currently being produced by Global Mamas and are expected to be released to selected facilities in early June.

We visited the Global Mamas facility to see how these masks are produced and will soon share the video.

Visit https://lnkd.in/es85wbk to get more details on what member companies are doing to help fight the coronavirus pandemic. AmChamMemberCOVID19Support

American Companies in Ghana Support the Government in the Fight Against COVID-19

Accra, GHANA 15 April 2020. The American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham) Ghana, is providing significant financial, technological and logistical resources to support the Government of Ghana’s fight against the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

“AmCham Ghana welcomes measures to combat the coronavirus, which will ensure that the virus does not spread further and protects at risk groups from COVID-19. The Chamber is poised to support the government to address logistical constraints faced by Ghana’s health sector while monitoring the impact of the pandemic across the country. We are also actively working to support frontline workers and are committed to supporting the government’s overall response to COVID-19,” Ayesha Bedwei, President of AmCham Ghana remarked.

In March 2020, the Chamber conducted the COVID-19 Business Impact Survey. The aim of the survey was to assess the impact of the outbreak and to highlight potential outcomes for businesses.

The survey which covered a wide range of industries including manufacturing, oil & gas, transportation and education, found that:

  • 50% of businesses have had their operations severely impacted by COVID-19.
  • Only 35% of businesses had plans in place to preserve business continuity and build enterprise resilience during a pandemic.
  • 85% of the businesses surveyed would experience supply chain disruption should movement continue to be restricted within the country.

In addition to the government’s efforts to minimize the economic impact of the pandemic, several U.S businesses are making significant contributions to the fight against COVID-19 across Africa and Ghana.

The Mastercard Foundation has committed approximately GHS90m to support micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and start-ups in Ghana during the economic downturn caused by COVID-19. The foundation is working with the National Board for Small Scale Industries (NBSSI) to support three million youth 70 percent being young women, over the next 10 years.

Newmont Ghana has provided US$100,000 to support the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research and the Kumasi Center for Collaborative Research in Tropical Medicine to procure COVID-19 testing kits. Newmont is supporting the Asutifi and Birim District Assemblies, and the Ahafo North Municipal Authority to support the local authorities’ efforts to fight the pandemic. Additionally, Newmont Corporation has established a US$20 million fund to help host communities, governments and employees combat COVID-19.

The Coca Cola Company and the Coca Cola Foundation have committed over US$120million to curb the spread of COVID-19. The specific allocation to Ghana is currently unknown and will be announced shortly. In addition, the company in partnership with its NGO partners, has contributed resources towards public education and has provided personal protective kits and beverages to all frontline workers.

Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has provided GHS 100,000.00 to support the Government of Ghana’s COVID-19 Fund. At a global level, J&J is mobilizing resources to develop a vaccine which could potentially be approved under emergency authorization by 2021. J&J and its partners have committed over US$1billion to co-fund COVID-19 research, development and clinical trials.

Globally, Mastercard has committed US$25 million in seed funding to the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, a global initiative in collaboration with Wellcome and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to speed-up the response to the COVID-19 pandemic by identifying, assessing, developing, and scaling-up treatments.

The Visa Foundation has pledged US$ 210 million in funding to support frontline NGOs and small and micro enterprises that have been financially impacted due to the pandemic. US$ 10 million of the funding will be used to provide international emergency assistance to frontline public health charities and global food aid. US $ 200 million will be provided over a five- year period to assist small and micro-enterprises globally to support the economic advancement of women.

Microsoft has made freely available one of its Office 365 Applications-Microsoft Teams-a videoconferencing, chat and team collaboration platform to help businesses, schools and individuals with remote working and learning navigate these challenging times.

IBM is supporting remote working and distance education efforts through its online learning platform (www.digitalnationafrica.com) to provide free online training on new technologies with certification and online job search engine.

AmCham Ghana commends the government’s efforts to address the COVID-19 crisis. For updates on support from American companies in Ghana’s fight against COVID-19 visit www.amchamghana.org/covid-19-support

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For more information, contact:
Simon Madjie,
Executive Secretary, Tel: 0244146585,
American Chamber of Commerce, Email: executivesecretary@amchamghana.org

Business Impact Of COVID-19

The outbreak of COVID-19 has sent shockwaves throughout the global economy with severe impacts on global trade and transportation.

To have an overview of the pandemic’s impact on business in Ghana, the chamber instituted the COVID-19 Business Impact Survey.

Ghana confirmed the first case of COVID-19 on March 12, 2020, and businesses are already feeling the financial impact of the disease. Some companies have canceled major meetings and events in response to the social distancing call, to help curb the spread of the virus.

Companies have also made an extra investment in acquiring PPEs and are implementing other safety protocols to keep their staff and clients safe.

A lot of businesses expect a significant reduction in their 2020 revenue targets as a direct result of the outbreak. Some companies are considering major salary cuts to stay in business and at the same time keep people employed