Mr. Simon Madjie – Executive Secretary of AMCHAM
About AMCHAM
The American Chamber of Commerce (Amcham), Ghana, is the representative arm of US businesses and subsidiaries in the country, including Ghanaian businesses with strong US ties. It was founded in September 1989 and was originally called the “Association of American Businesses”. It was formally established in August 1997 under the leadership of Mr. LadiNylander, then Managing Director of FC Johnson, as the American Chamber of Commerce, Ghana.
Its core mandate is to promote trade and investment between Ghana and the United States of America. It is affiliated with the United States Chamber of Commerce, which is the world’s largest business organization representing over 3 million members and 116 affiliates all over the world.
Board of AMCHAM
The Chamber is governed by a Board of Directors selected from the US business community in the country and has a current board made up of Mr. Philippe Ayivor, a retired Coca-Cola Company executive, as President; Mr. Leslie Nelson GE country director as Vice-President, Ms Doris Afanyedey, Country Director for SC Johnson as Treasurer.
Other members include Mr. Amos Amankwah, Commercial Director of Smice International; MrAzuAkunor, Country Manager of Cummins Ghana, Mr Felix Addo, Country Senior Partner of Price Water Coopers (PwC) and Mr. Ken Keag, Country Manager of Kosmos Energy.
The rest are Mr. Dave Shummer, Country Manager of Newmont Ghana Gold; Mr. Joe Mensah Country Manager of IBM and Mr. Paul Taylor and Mr. Joel Wiegert, Commercial and Economic Officers from the US Embassy in Accra respectively. The Chamber’s secretariat is located at Asylum Down, Accra and is administered on a day-to-day basis by Mr. Simon Madjie, the Executive Secretary.
Impact
Mr. Simon Madjie mentions that, American companies have contributed a lot to the development of Ghana and its economy with a considerable increase in Investments since 2009. To him, US companies believe in employing locals and developing their careers. In this regard, US companies have provided employment opportunities for many Ghanaians.Taxes paid by American companies in the country cannot be over looked in accessing their impact on Ghana’s growth.
American companies also impacts on communities in which they work. According to the Executive Secretary, American companies integrate communities to be part of their businesses and they help in providing sustainable solutions to the society. They thus go beyond CSR.
He also identified the provision of high quality goods and services as another positive indication of US Companies in Ghana.
Membership
AMCHAM Ghana’s current membership strength is over 100 with about 70% being US Companies and 30 % being Ghanaian Companies.
Sectors of the Economy.
AMCHAM’s membership cuts across the various sectors of the economy including manufacturing, agriculture and agro processing, construction &housing, mining, health care, power generation, oil & gas, banking and tourism.
Future for AMCHM
According to Mr. Simon Madjie, as Ghana’s political environment continues to be stable and as its economy continues to improve, AMCHAM will work with the state to create more jobs and increase employment opportunities in the country. AMCHAM will identify new ways of investment in promoting Ghana as a preferred investment destination in the US and also encourage members to direct their social investment to the critical areas of the economy. “In all of this, we want to encourage the creation of an environment for investment which must have a stable fiscal regime”, he concluded.
