American companies in Ghana are poised to drive economic growth in the country, President of the American Chamber Ghana, Mr Joe Mensah, has said.

He said American companies were making significant progress towards the development of the country and were even more determined to do more in the coming years.

Speaking in the interview with the Daily Graphic ahead of the chamber’s 30th anniversary in Ghana, he said, “we have made significant progress because a few years back, we made PwC do a study for us in terms of our contribution to the development of the country and even though we didn’t get 100 per cent participation in terms of information that we required from all the companies, the study indicated that we were contributing billions of dollars into the economy.”

“We are ready to have PwC do another study for us to show our current contribution to the economy,” he stated.

He urged the companies to keep the spirit and even drive harder.

Formation of AMCHAM

Commenting on the idea behind the formation of AMCHAM, Mr Mensah said the chamber was formed as an organisation that would be the medium for American companies to come together.

He said the aim of the chamber was to be the mouthpiece and advocacy group for American companies and also ensure that the contributions of the companies to the country were visible.

So far, he said, the chamber had executed its mandate perfectly and was the most vibrant and active AMCHAM in the sub-saharan region.

“If you look at the board that we have assembled and the participation from companies, we are doing very well and we need to continue to push it,” he stated.

He said the chamber would, however, not rest on its laurels, as there were still some American companies who were still not members of the chamber.

“Almost all the companies show very much interest in our programmes but our objective is to see all the blue chip companies join the chamber.”

Visible in all sectors

Mr Mensah also denied the assertion that American companies were only found and interested in the country’s oil and gas industry, stating that its companies were active in all sectors of the Ghanaian economy.

“It’s just that the oil and gas space is so visible and it’s our newly found ‘gold mine’ so everybody’s focus is there. It also takes a lot to really play in that space and that is why you see the focus there but there are American companies throughout the various sectors.”

“There are companies in the agricultural space and the real estate sector,” he noted.

Reducing corruption

Mr Mensah also advised individuals in the country to imbibe in themselves some of the principles that American companies in the country operated with in order to reduce corruption.

“American companies come in and operate with some principles that can help the country, if we pay more attention to it.

We have rules that all American companies adhere and subscribe to.”

“When we are doing things, we want to ensure that they are ethical,” he noted.

He said corruption was the bane of Africa and that was why the continent was struggling to develop.

“There is corruption everywhere, but ours have gone to a height where we need to focus on it and bring it down and American companies, by nature, and by the fact that they adhere to rules, can help us manage it,” he explained.

About Kosmos

When asked about how his company was faring in the country, Mr Mensah, who is also the Country Manager of Kosmos Energy, said Kosmos was doing extremely well and was more determined to do more exploration in the country.

He said Kosmos first discovered oil in 2007 and at that time there was only about 100 people in the industry “but now we have in excess of 8000 people in the industry and still growing.”
Two years ago, he said, 100 per cent of the company’s revenue was coming from Ghana but currently at 53 per cent.

“We have found places in other countries like Ivory Coast, Senegal, Mauritania, Sao Tome a, Equatorial Guinea, and Gulf of Mexico; and we are doing very well in these countries.”

He said this meant that Ghana had to continue creating the conducive environment “because we have to fight for the investments now.”

“If we don’t create the environment to have the investments here, it will go elsewhere,” he stated.