According to Virginia Palmer, the US ambassador to Ghana, Northern Ghana is the US government's top priority.
She explained that was the reason she made her first official journey since being appointed to Ghana this week, visiting Tamale and the Northern Region.
She visited with partners in development, public health, public safety, economic empowerment, and empowerment of women during the two-day tour. The Ambassador was joined by Kimberly Rosen, Director of the USAID Ghana Mission.
"I'm here on my first trip because Northern Ghana is a top priority for the United States. It is obvious that this region has enormous promise from the young people, business owners, farmers, members of civic society, and traditional leaders that I have met. I've already begun planning my subsequent visit," Virginia Palmer stated.
The ambassador met Shani Alhassan Shaibu, the minister for the northern region and head of the regional security council.
They talked about community-based initiatives to identify and stop violent extremism as well as U.S. government support for regional economic and human development.
Ambassador Palmer assisted in the introduction of the Global Shea Alliance and MasterCard Foundation's Shea Business Empowerment Program while on a visit to the Nuts for Growth shea processing facility.
As part of the scheme, local shea collectors will be assisted in converting their ad hoc enterprises into well-organized small companies and cooperatives that can more easily attain economies of scale to compete in the world shea market.
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has also given Nuts For Growth a $980,000 grant to spur private investment and raise the earnings of 20,000 female farmers in the area.
Later, when Ambassador Palmer met with representatives of the USAID Women in Agriculture Platform, she learned about their issues with land tenure, water management, and, most recently, fertiliser scarcity.
At the graduation ceremony for 44 newly educated electrical wiring specialists from the USAID Wiring Artisans programme, Ambassador Palmer delivered the keynote address.
The program's main goal was to impart professional electrician skills to locals, including 10 women. With more marketable abilities, these trained professionals will now enter the local labour market.
The Ambassador praised the contributions they will make to Ghana's economic growth and rejoiced that the number of women in the sector had nearly doubled.
Additionally, she visited with local Mandela Washington Fellowship and other American government exchange programme alums.
Ambassador Palmer discussed the crucial role of traditional leaders in Ghana with Dr. Kansanwurche Azara Bukari, President of the Savannah Region Queenmothers Association, before leaving Tamale.
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