The United States Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is set to lead a delegation from the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) on a fact-finding mission to Ghana later this month.
Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade Gilbert Kaplan will head the delegation on stops in Ethiopia, Kenya and Côte D’Ivoire as well as accompany Secretary Ross in Ghana.
The delegation will be comprised of PAC-DBIA representatives from the following companies: Acrow Bridge, Amethyst Technologies, APR Energy, Bechtel, Black Rhino, Caterpillar, Citi, Computer Frontiers, Inc., Dow Chemical Company, DSC Dredge, GE, IBM, Insta-Pro International, Kosmos Energy, Shea Yeleen, Synnove Energy, UPS, Varian Medical Systems, Vermeer, Visa, Inc. and Weber Shandwick.
These visits provide an opportunity for the delegation to gather insight into market opportunities and challenges faced by U.S. businesses in these fast-growing economies. The PAC-DBIA will use this information to provide President Trump with reliable and actionable recommendations to deepen commercial relationships in these countries.
On April 18, 2018, the PAC-DBIA held a meeting with Secretary Ross to deliberate and adopt a report of recommendations to the President on measures the U.S. Government might take to strengthen the U.S. commercial relationship with Ethiopia, Kenya, Côte d’Ivoire, and Ghana.
These are four countries that the Council identified as holding significant opportunities for U.S. companies to do business. The Council’s recommendations identify targeted approaches to mitigate obstacles previously identified in the Council’s Issues Report from November 29, 2017.
“President Trump and I firmly believe that American companies, working in conjunction with the African business community, will help African countries develop and, ultimately, take their rightful place within the international economic system,” said Secretary Ross. “U.S. companies can supply both cutting-edge technology and superior know-how regarding corporate governance and project management to emerging markets across Africa.”
This mission underscores the Trump administration’s commitment to both advance opportunities and to eliminate trade barriers to strengthen the U.S.-Africa commercial relationship.
During the trip, PAC-DBIA members will gather country-specific information for use in making recommendations to the President to resolve issues related to underdeveloped capital markets, non-transparent and price-based procurement processes, and workforce development.