U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris has announced US$1 billion in public and private financing for programmes focused on the economic empowerment of women in Ghana.
The funding will support expanding access to digital services, job training and support for entrepreneurs, her office explained.
Harris is holding a roundtable of women entrepreneurs Wednesday in the Ghanaian capital, Accra, before departing for Tanzania, the next leg of her weeklong Africa tour.
Tuesday, Harris pledged a new era of partnership between the U.S. and Africa, emphasizing women’s empowerment, developing the digital economy and supporting democracy to 8,000 young Ghanaians who gathered under the punishing midday sun to hear her speak in Accra.
Harris, the first Black female U.S. vice president, took the stage under the arch of Black Star gate, a sweeping seaside monument to Ghana’s 1957 independence from British colonial rule.
“We are all in because there are longstanding ties between our people,” Harris said. “We have an intertwined history, some of which is painful and some of which is prideful and all of which we must acknowledge, teach and never forget.”
After visiting Tanzania, Harris closes her trip with a stop in Zambia.
