Washington
July 13, 2012
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk met with workers at the Lucky 1888 Textile Mills near Ghana’s capital city during his first official visit to the West African nation.
Kirk’s visit highlights Ghana’s growing trade and investment relationship with the United States. He has met with Hannah Tetteh, Ghana’s trade minister, and George Aboagye, chairman of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre.
“Lucky — located in the free trade zone of Tema, just outside of Accra — is a true U.S.-Ghana trade success story,” the USTR said in a statement following the factory visit. Approximately 500 Ghanaian women work there making medical scrubs for export to the United States. Lucky Mills wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), according to the USTR.
Kirk also toured a nearby facility of the U.S.-based food company Cargill Inc., where workers showed him how beans are processed into cocoa powder. The plant employs 420 people and is additional proof that AGOA creates jobs in Africa while boosting quality exports, USTR said.