Presidential Advisory Council Set to Enhance US-Africa Business and Trade Relations | Black & Veatch

Presidential Advisory Council Set to Enhance US-Africa Business and Trade Relations

Black & Veatch CFO Karen Daniel Joins Line-Up of Global Business Leaders

With a focus on advancing President Obama’s Doing Business in Africa Campaign, 15 global business leaders from the finance, infrastructure, communications, energy, healthcare and aviation fields were selected by Secretary of Commerce Penny Pritzker to begin efforts to strengthen the commercial engagement between the United States and Africa.

Black & Veatch Chief Financial Officer Karen Daniel joins a team of senior executives that will advise the President on facilitating U.S. business participation in Africa's infrastructure and business development.

“Selection to the President’s Advisory Council is a great honor and privilege,” said Daniel. “The United States and Africa have significant opportunities to build strong economic partnerships in the coming years. As leader of Black & Veatch’s Africa Growth Initiative, I look forward to working with the Council to develop and strengthen the relationships that will benefit people across the region as well as here in the United States for generations to come.”

President's Advisory Council On Doing Business In Africa - Fact Sheet

The Council is charged with supporting Presidential priorities including:

Creating jobs in the United States and Africa through trade and investment;

Developing strategies by which the U.S. private sector can identify and take advantage of trade and investment opportunities in Africa;

Building lasting commercial partnerships between the U.S. and African private sectors.

“Black & Veatch has been developing infrastructure projects in Africa for nearly 50 years,” said Steve Edwards, Chairman and CEO of Black & Veatch. “We firmly believe that unlike just a decade ago, the greatest interest in Africa is no longer found in what comes from its soil, or from beneath its surface, but from the prospect of unlocking the limitless potential of its people.  We thank President Obama and Secretary Pritzker for this opportunity and look forward to supporting the Advisory Council in their efforts to foster stronger ties with the nations of Africa.”

​Editor’s Notes:

  • The President directed the Secretary of Commerce to establish the Advisory Council by Executive Order 13675, signed on August 5, 2014.
  • Black & Veatch has been developing water and energy infrastructure projects throughout Africa since the 1960s.

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