500 firms for Ghana Expo in Atlanta

Five hundred firms have been selected to participate in the trade, investment and cultural conference on Ghana (Ghana Expo) slated for September 23-26 in the United States.

The companies were screened out of 650 firms that applied for participation in the event that would take place at the Georgia World Congress Centre in Atlanta. The figure exceeds the 350 firms targeted for the exhibition, according to the organisers.

It is being organised by Expo Africa Limited, events management and marketing company. The Chairman of the National Planning Committee, Kwame Owusu Afriyie, says two key features have been introduced to give the event an international dimension.

These are Global Youth Forum, which will provide the platform for young and future entrepreneurs to discuss and unearth their potential, and a media summit with the team, “The media's role in transforming the 21st Century image of Africa.”

Owusu Afriyie said a panel of internationally recognised journalists from Africa and the United States would lead the summit.

“What we are in to generate from the media summit will be a strategic plan dedicated to the task of creating, addressing and building new media and information-industry policies regarding story treatment of Africa and the African in the diaspora,” he said.

A grand durbar to be hosted by the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will also be held. Expo Africa Limited first launched the exposition at the Alexandra Palace in London, UK, but had to move to Atlanta this year because of the city's outstanding reputation as a global portal for business, trade and culture, especially for Africa.