The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that eight companies from a variety of industries across Ghana are in Washington, D.C., to participate in the SelectUSA Investment Summit taking place June 18-20. The Summit is the highest profile event to connect global companies and U.S. economic development organizations (EDOs) to facilitate business investment in the United States.

“We are entering a new period of economic revival in the United States,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross. “This is an exciting time for global companies to explore the U.S. market and find partners that can help them create a footprint, expand operations, and achieve growth. There is no better place to make those connections than this Summit.”

This will be the first time any country from the continent of Africa will be participating, with eight Ghanaian companies interested in investing in the United States.

“We are thrilled to welcome these eight Ghanaian companies to the Summit and to the United States,” said Tyrena Holley, Senior Commercial Officer at the U.S. Embassy. “As the nation’s premier foreign direct investment event, the Summit brings business opportunities and resources from across the United States together in a single place, enabling participants to complete weeks of work in fewer than three days.”

The United States is currently home to more foreign direct investment (FDI) than any other country in the world, with a total stock of $3.1 trillion at the end of 2015. Ghana has not yet been a major source of FDI in the United States; however, Ghanaians have recently invested in business and real estate projects and financial institutions. The Summit seeks to attract even more Ghanaian investment to the United States.

To date, representatives from 51 U.S. states and territories and more than 65 international markets have registered for the 2017 Investment Summit. Past Summit participants announced $20.6 billion of new investment projects in the United States from 2014 to 2016.