More US Investors Storm Ghana

Story By Felix Dela Klutse
Editor of Business Guide and Business Editor of Daily Guide, Ghana
Mobile: 0243226596

American businesses in the country are expected to escalate next year as a number of US firms, both small and large, have lined up to set up in Ghana, Mona Boyd, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana has disclosed.
Already, giant computer maker, IBM has set up a small office in the country with the aim of expanding and perhaps assembling computers in the near future.
Other blue chip companies are expected to follow suit and thus expand their frontiers when economic prospects in the country become brighter, BUSINESS GUIDE has learnt.
Ghana is one of the few countries in Africa that have so far achieved political and economic stability for almost two decades, culminating in American firms using the country as a strategic location to spread their operations in sub-Saharan Africa.
In the last two decades, three US Presidents, namely Bill Clinton, George Walker Bush and lately Barrack Obama, have paid working visits to Ghana, heightening US attention on Ghana. Their visits, especially that of Mr. Bush and Mr. Obama, which occurred in 2008 and 2009, appear to have ignited a new trend of American business interest to propel Ghana into the global market.
Importantly, the American businesses are contributing immensely to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) or growth rate and revenue mobilization to government among others. Their total capital runs into billions of dollars, looking at the large nature of some of the entities that are employing some thousands of people.
US businesses in Ghana include large, medium and small scale and are running into some hundreds. They are into mining, pharmaceuticals, finance, airline, trading, ICT and others. Some are also operating in the free zone enclave.
Among the large blue chip firms are Newmont Ghana which is the second largest gold mining company in the world; Golden Star Resources, a mining firm operating at Prestea and Bogoso in the Western region; Coca-Cola and Kosmos Energy which recently announced the sale of its 30 percent shares in the Jubilee Oilfield.
Liberty Capital, a finance and investment company, American Airlines and Delta Airlines are some of the firms considered as medium scale US businesses in Ghana.
Small businesses owned by US nationals are also doing brisk business in the country.
Those operating in the free zone enclave include Rising Data Solutions and Cargill Cocoa Processing Company.
Some local firms are also serving as representatives to some American businesses in Ghana whilst others such as Mechanical Lloyd hold the franchise to sell Ford vehicles in Ghana on behalf of General Motors.

E-mail: felixklutse@yahoo.com