The newly established U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Doing Business in Africa (PAC-DBIA) has appointed 15 members, representing small, medium, and large companies from a variety of industry sectors, to advise the President, through the Secretary of Commerce, on strengthening commercial engagement between the US and Africa.

The appointees are: Walé Adeosun, founder and CIO of Kuramo Capital Management; Dominic Barton, Global MD at McKinsey & Company; J.P. Bilbrey, President and CEO of The Hershey Company; Shelley Broader, President and CEO, Walmart EMEA; Teresa Clarke, chairman and CEO of Africa.com; Melissa Cook, founder and MD of African Sunrise Partners; Karen Daniel, CFO, Board member, and leader of Africa Growth Initiative at Black & Veatch; Peter Grauer, chairman at Bloomberg LP; Jay Ireland, President and CEO of GE Africa; Kevon Makell, President and CEO of SEWW Energy; Edward Mathias, MD of Carlyle Group; Martin Richenhagen, chairman, President, and CEO of AGCO; David Storch, Chairman and CEO of AAR Corporation; Dow Wilson, President and CEO of Varian Medical Systems; and Rahama Wright, founder and CEO of Shea Yeleen.
 
“US Government and private sector leaders see tremendous opportunity in Africa, and they want to seize it,” said US Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker. 

“Africa is home to six of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world, and the demand for US goods and services on the continent is high. The President’s Advisory Council will be a critical part of our efforts to strengthen our trade and investment ties across Africa, so we can do more business together,” she added.
 
Secretary Pritzker announced the appointments 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.

The event brought together U.S. government officials, visiting U.S. commercial diplomats posted at embassies throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, international business leaders, trade finance experts and others to help businesses identify and develop trade and investment opportunities on the continent. 
 
Earlier this year, the US Department of Commerce and Bloomberg Philanthropies co-hosted the first-ever U.S.-Africa Business Forum, bringing together hundreds of American and African chief executive officers with nearly every African head of state to spur more trade and investment between the US and Africa.

At the Forum, US firms announced more than $14bn worth of investments throughout the continent.

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 US 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 US Strategy toward Sub-Saharan Africa of June 14, 2012.

The PAC-DBIA will provide information, analysis, and recommendations on U.S.-Africa trade and investment priorities, including US and Africa job creation; developing and strengthening commercial partnerships to increase US public and private sector financing in Africa; and analyzing the effect of policies in the United States and Africa on US trade and investment interests in Africa.