Mahama rings Nasdaq closing bell in New York and pitches Ghana to investors

Pinned summary · as of 06:13

Ghana's President, John Dramani Mahama, marked the end of a trading day on the Nasdaq floor in New York this week by ringing its bell, using the moment to tell the business world that Ghana welcomes trade and investment. His picture and a slogan about Ghana being open for business had appeared on the exchange's billboard in Times Square.

What we know

• Mahama rang the closing bell at Nasdaq in New York while on a visit to the United States.
• At Nasdaq, the President declared Ghana open for business.
• A billboard belonging to the exchange in Times Square showed the President's face beside the slogan "Ghana Is Open for Business".
• The trip was aimed at attracting investors and companies to Ghana, and Mahama held talks with business executives and investors while in New York.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Reports differ on when the ceremony took place and which United Nations General Assembly session it coincided with. Onua Online placed it on Wednesday, 23 September during the 81st session, Opemsuo 104.7 gave the day as Tuesday, and Ghanaian News (Canada) referred to the 80th session.
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  Rainbow Radio Online reported that the ceremony led into a U.S.-Ghana Presidential Roundtable of investors, company executives and policy specialists, where talks covered private sector growth, cross-border trade and sustainable capital. Opemsuo 104.7 added that the event was organised by the US Chamber of Commerce with the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre. Ghanaian News (Canada) instead mentioned a Ghana-US Business Summit.
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  Rainbow Radio Online reported that Mahama promised a stable financial environment, simpler corporate regulation and fresh routes to shared prosperity for Ghana and foreign businesses. No other report carried these remarks.
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  Nasdaq was said to have described the ceremony as a sign of how closely Ghanaian and American economies are linked, a remark reported by Onua Online and Opemsuo 104.7 but not verified elsewhere.
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  Graphic Online reported that Mahama invited American capital and technology into value addition, energy and technology, and described Ghana as a gateway to Africa. On electricity, he was quoted as saying: "Power is stable in Ghana, I can assure you".
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  According to Graphic Online, Mahama pointed to the African Continental Free Trade Area, whose secretariat sits in Accra, as creating a continental customer base above 1.4 billion people. He also said Ghana was getting ready to take the African Union chair in 2027, a role he said would serve to advance infrastructure, industrialisation and integration.
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  Graphic Online said Mahama argued that too many of Ghana's cocoa, gold, cashew and shea products leave in raw form, and urged American firms to process goods locally, create markets for farmers and open jobs along the value chain. It also reported him listing digital infrastructure, data centres, artificial intelligence and fintech as areas of opportunity.
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  Graphic Online quoted Mahama as saying that Ghana and the United States traded goods and services worth approximately $4.6 billion in 2025, and as urging more American firms to produce in Ghana and buy from local suppliers.
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  Opemsuo 104.7 reported that Mahama told investors that Ghana had kept up the work of restoring macroeconomic stability, and that foreign direct investment in 2025 reached about $2.6 billion, roughly four times the 2024 level. He also pledged to remove obstacles to investment and to return and report on progress.
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  Ghanaian News (Canada) said the trip was not about a commercial agreement with the exchange and would not by itself produce investment deals, but offered a chance to showcase Ghana's economic potential.
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  Ghana News Online reported that Finance Minister Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson told the Association of Ghana Industries and other industry leaders that the government would protect the gains in macroeconomic stability. He said the 2027 Budget would unveil the government's plan for economic transformation and that Mahama had committed US$10 billion to strategic sectors over four years.
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  In the same engagement, Dr. Forson said the government had deliberately lowered the cost of capital and would seek to bring it down further, and asked industry to back domestic revenue mobilisation so the state avoids overborrowing as in 2022. "Feel free to invest because we will sustain the gains," he said. No other report carried these remarks.

Why it matters for Ghana

The push for foreign capital is tied to sectors that touch daily life in Ghana, including electricity supply, cocoa and cashew processing, farm incomes and jobs. Whether the promises made in New York become factories, power projects or contracts will depend on deals that have yet to be announced. For traders and firms in Accra, Kumasi and beyond, the government's message is that it wants more local production and less export of raw produce.