The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana, Stephanie S. Sullivan, has paid a courtesy call on management of the Business and Financial Times to discuss the overall media landscape in Ghana.
Ambassador Sullivan expressed the U.S. government’s commitment to promoting a climate in which journalists are free to do their work responsibly: without fear, harassment or intimidation. She also shared information about the various U.S. government exchange and capacity building programmes that strengthen the overall journalist corps in Ghana – such as the International Visitors Leadership Programme and Foreign Press Centre reporting tours.
During the meeting, Ambassador Sullivan took the opportunity to reaffirm the U.S. government’s partnership with Ghana, highlighting U.S. global partnerships and commitment to multilateral institutions. She pointed to the U.S. government rejoining the Paris Climate Agreement as an example of the United States rejoining the multilateral community to invest in combatting climate change.
Another example given was the U.S. government rejoining the World Health Organisation and its support in the global pandemic response: namely the U.S. contributions to the COVAX vaccine facility of US$4billion, as well as the U.S. government’s funding to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.
As the fund’s biggest donor, the U.S. government has contributed US$17.6billion to the fund and recently made a US$3.5billion contribution to the Global Fund specifically for the COVID-19 response – of which Ghana will soon access up to US$70million to address the pandemic.
Speaking on bilateral trade issues, Ambassador Sullivan pointed to U.S. trade and investment in Ghana as a major U.S. government priority, and noted Ghana’s leadership in hosting the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) secretariat and opportunities to enhance its investment climate.
Ambassador Sullivan applauded B&FT’s reporting, saying: “I commend B&FT on their continued professionalism and reliance on experts to produce strong, reliable content, which has resulted in the media outlet becoming the go-to source of business and financial reporting in Ghana”.
On behalf of management, Board Chairperson of the Business and Financial Times Dr. Edith Dankwa welcomed the Ambassador, assuring her of the company’s full support to activities of the embassy in improving standards of journalism in the country.
She revealed some of the programmes and events the company hosts as part of its contribution to the business landscape and economic development of the country. These include the Business Times Magazine; the Ghana Economic Forum; the Ghana Energy Summit; Ghana’s Most Respected CEOs Breakfast Series; the Money Summit; the Ghana SME Summit; and the Digital Webinar.
“Our priority is to give information for the business community to make informed decisions to build their organisations and the nation at large,” said Dr. Dankwa.
Also at the meeting were CEO, Dr. Godwin Acquaye; Managing Editor William Selassy Adjadogo; and from the US Embassy was Counsellor for Public Affairs Virginia Elliott; Press Attaché Naomi Mattos; and Information Specialist, Joyce Asiedu.
