President Nana Akufo-Addo has sent a congratulations message to Ms. Valentina Mintah, founder and former Chief Executive of West Blue Consulting for her appointment as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board, assuring her of government’s full support.

Ms. Valentina Mintah’s appointment makes her the first black female to be elected to the ICC Executive Board in the organization’s 100 years of existence. ICC is the world’s largest business organization representing 45 million companies and 1 billion employees from all sectors and company sizes in over 130 countries.

President Akufo-Addo in his congratulations letter lauded Ms. Mintah’s achievement, promising her of government’s support and urging her not to hesitate to contact any agency of the government for any assistance she may require.

Portions of the congratulations letter read: “I write to congratulate you warmly, on behalf of the Government of the people of Ghana, and my behalf, on this outstanding achievement. It is a tribute to black women the world over, particularly to Ghanaians and African women.

“I am glad to note that your “personal mandate for this role will be to use ICT platform to drive the promotion of trade between Ghana and international economies, further cementing Ghana’s economic potential among global partners”.

“This is very laudable, and you can be assured of the full support of Government to this end. Do not hesitate to contact any agency of the government for any assistance you may require. I wish you the best of luck and God’s blessings”.

The new member, Valentina Mintah, joins the ICC Executive Board, responsible for developing and implementing ICC’s strategy, policy and program of action, and for overseeing the financial affairs of the world business organization.

ICC Secretary General, John W.H. Denton AO in his congratulations message said “ICC is delighted to welcome Valentina Mintah to its global Executive Board. Throughout her career, Valentina has championed international trade facilitation both in her home region of West Africa and in several transitional economies across the world. With her additional role as Vice-Chair of ICC Ghana, she is uniquely placed to support the strengthening of commercial and trade ties between several keys, high growth global markets.”

ICC Ghana Secretary-General, Emmanuel Doni-Kwame said: “ICC Ghana has one of its own on the Executive Board, this is not only well deserved by a qualified professional but an honor to a blessed nation and a continent whose time has come. Valentina’s experience in Africa is an asset to the new Board as we strive to make the business work for everyone, every day and everywhere.

7-member ICC Executive Board

The seven-member Executive Board was announced at the 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council and Ms. Mintah would be on the board with some of the world’s most renowned giants including Sheikh Khalifa bin Jassim bin Mohammad Al-Thani from Qatar, Sebastian Escarrer from Spain, Dario Gallina from Italy, Shinta Kamdani from Indonesia, Takeshi Niinami from Japan and Jane Sun from China.

The 2020 meeting of the ICC World Council also announced that it has elected MasterCard Chief Executive, Ajay Banga, as ICC Chairman and confirmed Maria Fernanda Garza, Chief Executive of Orestia as ICC First Vice-Chair.