Accompanied by the First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama, he was met on arrival at the JFK Airport by Ghana’s Ambassador to the United States, Lt-Gen. Joseph Henry Smith, Ghana’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, and other officials.

Aside from the General Assembly, the President will also attend meetings of the UN Advocacy Group on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), for which he is co-chairman. Listed on his itinerary include co-hosting side events geared towards the successful implementation of the SDGs,  the Food and Agriculture Organisation and World Food Programme event on “Pathways to Zero Hunger”, which will showcase concrete transformations in food security,  nutrition and sustainable agriculture in support of the delivery of the 2030 Agenda.

President Mahama’s activities will further include attendance of the US-AFRICA Business Forum under the auspices of the US Department of Commerce and the Bloomberg Philanthropies.

High on the tall agenda are bilateral meetings with Nigerian Leader Muhammadu Buhari, Guyanese President David Granger, the Chief Executive Officer of Millennium Challenge Corporation and attendance of an ECOWAS summit.

On her part, the First Lady will chair meetings of the Organisation of African First Ladies Against HIV/AIDS (OAFLA) and other events for first ladies. Welcoming the President at his hotel, General Smith said Ghana had become the talking point of the international community as a result of which there had been a lot of invitations to the mission on Ghana’s investment opportunities.

“All these boil down to the impressive leadership style of your Excellency, President Mahama”, he said, pointing out that “your leadership style is giving us what we want for investments to come”.

General Smith, therefore, urged President Mahama to maintain the momentum in order to capture the objective. “Your boys are charged up, they only need you to continue with your good leadership, which has been an encouragement to us and the country,” he added.

President Mahama is scheduled to address the United Nations General Assembly on Wednesday.