Fuel Hub Initiative. Ghana is one of few African nations selected for the State Partnership Program, which will promote greater economic ties with U.S. institutions, including the National Guard. The United States is among Ghana's principal trading partners. The Office of the President of Ghana worked closely with the U.S. Embassy in Accra to establish an American Chamber of Commerce to continue to develop closer economic ties in the private sector. Major U.S. companies operating in the country include ACS, CMS Energy, Coca-Cola, S.C. Johnson, Ralston Purina, StarKist, A.H. Robins, Sterling, Pfizer, IBM, 3M, Motorola, Stewart & Stevenson, PriceWaterhouseCoopers, and National Cash Register (NCR). Several U.S. firms recently made or are considering investments in Ghana, primarily in gold mining, wood products, and petroleum. U.S. mining giant Newmont entered Ghana's mining sector in 2004 and intends to invest up to $1 billion. In late 1997, Nuevo Petroleum concluded an oil exploration agreement accounting for the last of Ghana's offshore mineral rights zones. Several other U.S. oil companies also are engaged in offshore exploration, but so far with little success. U.S. development assistance to Ghana in fiscal year 2007 was implemented by USAID, the African Development Foundation, Millennium Challenge Corporation, and others. U.S. development assistance to Ghana in fiscal year 2007 totaled more than $55.1 million, with programs in small farmer competitiveness, health, including HIV/AIDS and maternal child health, education, and democracy/governance. Ghana was the first country in the world to accept Peace Corps volunteers, and the program remains one of the largest. Currently, there are more than 150 volunteers in Ghana. Almost half work in education, and the others in agro-forestry, small business development, health education, water sanitation, and youth development. Ghana's $547 million compact with the Millennium Challenge Corporation is the most recent achievement in the U.S.-Ghanaian development partnership. Embassies The principal missions relating to the two countries' bilateral relations are the Embassy of the United States, Accra and the Ghanaian Embassy in Washington, D.C. List of relevant U.S officials Principal U.S. officials include: Ambassador—Stephanie S. Sullivan Deputy chief of mission—Sue K. Brown Director, USAID Mission—Dennis Weller, Acting Defense attaché—Lt Col Benjamin Moody Foreign Commercial Service—Diane Jones Public affairs officer—Chris Hodges Political chief—Brian Shukan Economic chief—Susan Driano Management counselor—Christopher Stillman Consul—Michael Evans Deputy consul—Jeffrey Graham See also Ghanaian Americans Foreign relations of Ghana Foreign relations of the United States Embassy of Ghana in Washington, D.C. African Americans in Ghana Door