AmCham Ghana 30th Anniversary Celebration / Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Night

The American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana on Saturday, November 23, 2019, held its 30th Anniversary Celebration / Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Night. The event was to climax the year-long 30th-anniversary celebration and also commemorate the American national holiday of Thanksgiving.

The event had in attendance Senior Government Officials, including the Guest of Honor, Deputy Minister for Trade and Industry, Hon. Carlos Ahenkorah, Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Hon. Cynthia Morrison, and former Minister for Finance, Hon. Seth Terkper,  the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan and other Heads of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Ghana. Also in attendance were corporate executives from the American business community, former AmCham Ghana Presidents and executives, members of the Chamber, and other associates.

The Guest of Honor, Hon. Carlos Ahenkorah, during his remarks, commended AmCham Ghana for promoting trade and investment between Ghana and the United States and connecting businesses across the continent for 30 years. “Indeed, fostering these partnerships requires extensive commitment and a genuine sense of excellence that transcends normal business practices,” he added.

The Minister also touched on the “Year of Return, Ghana 2019” program, which was launched by the President of Ghana in Washington DC in September of 2019. According to the Minister, the Ministry of Trade and Industry cannot ignore the economic significance of the program as they champion intra-African trade by hosting the Secretariat of the AfCFTA. He said, “Indeed, it is a known fact returnees have contributed enormously to the rapid development of the Asian Tigers such as Korea, Japan, and China.”

“This was done through a conscious effort to provide a business environment that is welcoming, facilitating, and of international standards. We believe these are important for the business assimilation of returnees and offer a myriad of opportunities,” he added.

Given this, the Ministry is implementing a ten-point industrial transformation agenda with business regulatory reforms to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

Hon. Carlos Ahenkorah said the Ministry is supporting private sector promoters to develop Industrial Parks and Social Economic Zones around the country to provide dedicated land space with energy, water, and telecommunications facilities for the establishment of manufacturing industries. This is expected to solve problems related to the acquisition of industrial land in the country.

The Minister joined the outgoing President of the Chamber, Joe Mensah, the Former Presidents and Executives of the Chamber, the U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, the Senior Director for West & Central Africa at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s U.S.-Africa Business Center, Dr. Guevera Yao, and the Headline Sponsors of the event to cut the special 30th-anniversary cake.

30th Anniversary and Thanksgiving Awards

The Chamber seized the opportunity to honor the contributions of Former Presidents and Executives of the Chamber, Members, Staff, and associates.

Ladi Nylander, AmCham Ghana Founding President; Victoria Cooper-Enchia, Former AmCham Ghana President;  William Ohrt, Former AmCham Ghana President;  Mona Boyd, Former AmCham Ghana President; Philippe Ayivor, Former AmCham Ghana President; Joe Mensah, Former AmCham Ghana President; Felix Addo, Former AmCham Ghana Vice President; Nick Kyei Baffour, Active Former Vice President; Herbert Morrison, Founding Member; Theresa Aba Conduah, First Executive Secretary of AmCham Ghana; Doris Afanyedey, Past Treasurer & Longest Serving Treasurer of the Chamber; Simon Madjie, 10 Years of Service to the Chamber;  Akua Oye-Akufo, Longest-Serving Staff at the Chamber; U.S. Embassy in Ghana, Most Strategic Partner Throughout this 30-Year Period; Newmont Goldcorp Ghana, Longest Serving Member of the Chamber; PwC Ghana, Longest Serving Member of the Chamber; Coca-Cola Bottling Company of Ghana Limited, Longest Serving Member of the Chamber, and NCR Ghana Limited, Longest Serving Member of the Chamber, were all presented with a special Certificate of Appreciation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington DC.

The Outgoing President of the Chamber, Joe Mensah, was presented with a Leadership Achievement Award for his exemplary leadership throughout his four-year tenure and his immense contribution to the promotion of trade and cultural ties between Ghana and the United States.

Plaques of Appreciation were presented to our Headline Sponsors; Kimathi & Partners and Newmont Goldcorp Corporation, our Gold Sponsor; ExxonMobil E&P Ghana (Deepwater) Limited, Silver Sponsor; JLD & MB Legal Consultancy, and Delta Air Line Ghana and GoldLine Mining Ghana Limited for supporting the AmCham 30th Anniversary Celebration / Thanksgiving Dinner and Awards Night. 

Dode Seidu was also presented with a Special Recognition award for his support and contributions to the Chamber’s development.

AmCham Best Member Award 2019

The Best AmCham Ghana member award for 2019 went to ExxonMobil E&P Ghana (Deepwater) Limited for their consistent participation in AmCham Ghana activities throughout the year. ExxonMobil, the largest publicly traded international oil and gas company, uses technology and innovation to help meet the world’s growing energy needs. ExxonMobil Exploration & Production Ghana (Deepwater) Limited acquired rights in 2018 to explore the ultra-deepwater block Deepwater Cape Three Points.

ExxonMobil holds 80% interest in the Deepwater Cape Three Point block.

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P&G Ghana Joins AmCham

The Chamber is pleased to announce Procter & Gamble (P&G) Ghana as a new member of our association of progressive businesses. Having fulfilled all registration requirements, P&G Ghana is now a Corporate Member of the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana.

P&G Ghana started commercial operations in Ghana in 2016. The company expects that its dedicated and focused team in Ghana will improve P&G’s ability to distribute P&G branded products to the over 28 million local residents in Ghana.

They currently have a small team of about 10 employees but expect their local office to grow along with their business in Ghana.

AmCham Ghana Exec. Sec. Simon Madjie in a group photograph with P&G Ghana Executives.

Procter & Gamble Ghana supports the government’s economic policies that prioritize building a strong and resilient economy; setting up local P&G operations generates new direct and indirect jobs. It also serves hundreds of SMEs with their distributors’ operations.

During their three years of operations in Ghana, The company has engaged in a number of CSR activities. P&G’s Pampers hospital & mobile clinics touched the lives of over 300,000 young Ghanaian mothers and babies in 2018. The Company reached and provided feminine hygiene/puberty education programs to over 25 000 young girls by the end of 2016 and over 200,000 Ghanaian girls in 2018 with their Always keeping girls in School program.

AmCham celebrates with GARIA

The Executive Secretary and the Communication officer of the Chamber were at GARIA’s end of year open house to interact with them and their Members. The presence of AmCham at this event is to further emphasise our collaborative efforts to raise awareness about the need to improve the ease of doing business in the country.

President of GARIA, Mr. Felix Addo said the cocktail event was organised to unwind, interact and share ideas for activities in the coming year. The event was attended by some business executives and people from academia.

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UBER Chief Brand Officer visits Ghana

Bozoma Saint John, Chief Brand officer and the corporate face of Uber visited Ghana to assess the operations of the company in the Country. At a luncheon event organised to welcome her into the country, she reiterated the commitment of Uber to the Economic transformation of the country and was pleased that Accra was one of the fastest growing cities with huge demand for Uber.

She further announced that Uber had over 3000 partner drivers in Accra and they were also pleased about expanding their operations to Kumasi. Saint John also urged partners to help the company to be responsible to the community and make sure Uber serves them appropriately.

“One good thing we love about Uber is the opportunity that it gives to a lot of folks to not only earn a living, but to create opportunities for themselves, the community and their families. We hope to push that agenda not only in Ghana but across Africa and of course the world.” She added.

The meeting was attended by Uber executives in West Africa, the DCM of the U.S Embassy, Madam Tabler-Stone, members of the U.S mission in Accra, the Mayor of Accra, Hon. Mohammad Sowah and representatives from the Ministry of Tourism.

The President of the American Chamber of Commerce who also doubles as the Country Manager of Kosmos Energy, Mr. Joe Mensah on his part urged Uber to continue with the good work it has started in Ghana. He said the arrival of one more U.S company in the country underscored the importance of the strategic commercial relationship between Ghana and the U.S.

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