Africa.com CEO Teresa Clarke Appointed to President Obama's New Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa

NEW YORK - Nov. 6, 2014 - PRLog -- U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker today announced that Africa.com CEO Teresa Clarke is among the 15 private sector leaders who have been appointed to the newly established President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA). PAC-DBIA members – representing the private sector from a variety of industry sectors – were hand-picked to advise the President and the Secretary of Commerce on strengthening commercial engagement between the United States and Africa.

“I am grateful to be able to serve the President and the Secretary of Commerce on a topic about which I have so much passion,” said Ms. Clarke.  “Africa.com has opened the eyes of American business to opportunity in Africa for years through multi-media including our film, Africa Straight Up, and our weekly business newsletters, the Africa.com Top 10.”

Ms. Clarke was appointed to the board based on her twenty years of experience doing business in Africa, her vast business career which includes being the first African-American woman managing director in the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs, and her founding of Africa.com which was the only Africa-focused media company selected to be a part of the White House Traveling Press Corps on President Obama’s historic trip to Africa in 2013.

“Economic growth on the Continent will continue to drive demand for U.S. exports, which will ultimately help create jobs at home and provide valuable investment opportunities for U.S. businesses,” said U.S. Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. “With Africa being home to six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world, the President’s Advisory Council will provide expert counsel on strengthening our partnerships with African countries to leverage opportunities for U.S. companies committed for the long term.”

The appointments were announced at Discover Global Markets, a Commerce-led business development forum held in Atlanta that focuses on export opportunities in Sub-Saharan Africa, including Cote d'Ivoire, Nigeria, South Africa, and Mozambique, among others.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies co-hosted the first-ever U.S.-Africa Business Forum. As part of his commitment to deepen engagement between the United States and Africa, President Obama signed an Executive Order (E.O.) at the Forum to promote broad-based economic growth in the United States and Africa by encouraging U.S. companies to trade with and invest in Africa.

The E.O. directed the Secretary of Commerce to establish the PAC-DBIA. The group’s work will focus on advancing the President's DBIA campaign as described in the U.S. Strategy Toward Sub-Saharan Africa of June 14, 2012. The PAC will provide information, analysis, and recommendations on U.S.-Africa trade and investment priorities, including U.S. and Africa job creation; developing and strengthening commercial partnerships to increase U.S. public and private sector financing in Africa; and analyzing the effect of policies in the United States and Africa on U.S. trade and investment interests in Africa.

The appointees of the President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa, in alphabetical order, are:

 Walé Adeosun – Founder and Chief Investment Officer, Kuramo Capital Management
 Dominic Barton – Global Managing Director, McKinsey & Company
 J.P. Bilbrey – President and CEO, The Hershey Company
 Shelley Broader – President and CEO, Walmart EMEA
 Teresa Clarke – Chairman and CEO, Africa.com
 Melissa Cook – Founder and Managing Director, African Sunrise Partners
 Karen Daniel – Chief Financial Officer, Board Member, and Leader of Africa Growth Initiative, Black & Veatch
 Peter Grauer – Chairman, Bloomberg LP
 Jay Ireland – President and CEO, GE Africa
 Kevon Makell – President and CEO, SEWW Energy
 Edward Mathias – Managing Director, Carlyle Group
 Martin Richenhagen – Chairman, President, and CEO, AGCO
 David Storch – Chairman and CEO, AAR Corporation
 Dow Wilson – President and CEO, Varian Medical Systems
 Rahama Wright – Founder and Executive Director, Shea Yeleen Health and Beauty

U.S. merchandise exports to sub-Saharan Africa increased 58 percent from 2009 to 2013, reaching $24 billion last year. The annual growth rate of U.S. goods exports to sub-Saharan Africa has outpaced the rate of growth to the world during this same period. Total U.S. exports of goods and services to the continent of Africa reached $50.2 billion in 2013, representing total growth of 39 percent since 2009, or a 9 percent annual growth rate.

“My hopes for the President’s Advisory Council include helping both US and African small businesses increase inter-continental trade, and in particular, leveraging internet technology to do so.  The untapped potential of the internet in Africa presents a huge opportunity to take what has been great growth on the continent to exponential growth,” said Ms. Clarke.

For more information, please visit www.trade.gov/pac-dbia.

About Africa.com

Africa.com is the leading Africa-related website with more than one million views every month from people in over 100 countries. Our signature product is the Africa.com Top10 - we read all the Africa news so that you don't have to. We curate and summarize the top ten African news stories of the day and of the week. Africa.com is also a one stop shop to help Africans put their ideas onto mobile websites easily and affordably.  For companies and bloggers who want to showcase their African identity as part of their website address, we offer names like books.africa.com or kofi.africa.com.  With offices in South Africa, Nigeria and the United States, Africa.com is dedicated to changing the way the world sees Africa.