He said while illegal miners continued to strip the land bare in search of precious minerals, there was a responsibility to protect the environment for the sake of sustainability, hence the decision of the US government to strengthen Ghana’s capacity to reduce degradation and promote the use of clean energy such as solar from sunshine which is abound in the country all year round.

Event

Mr Regan, who is the first African American to be appointed Administrator of the EPA, was speaking when he visited the Du Bois Centre in Accra after his earlier visit to Mozambique, in what was his first official visit to Africa.

He was accompanied by the President and CEO of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), Derrick Johnson.

The Executive Director of the W.E.B Du Bois Museum Foundation, Japheth Aryiku, took Mr Regan and Mr Johnson on a tour of the building which housed Du Bois in his last days in Ghana before his death.

They also visited his tomb which is within a separate building at the centre. 

Mr Regan said his visit to Africa was in response to President Biden’s call to action at the 2022 US-Africa Leaders Summit to expand substantive and meaningful partnerships with African countries, institutions and people across the continent.

The visit, he said, would, therefore, help build partnerships and share solutions on a range of environmental priorities, including the development of clean energy, clean air, encouraging responsible mining of critical minerals and recycling of materials from plastics and electronic waste.

“I am thrilled to be representing the Biden-Harris Administration on this mission to Africa to further the long-standing and enduring relationship between the US and this thriving continent,” the administrator added.

He said Ghana and Mozambique were important partners in “our collective work to ensure that economic development and environmental protection go hand in hand.

“We all have a stake in developing clean energy, protection of vital natural resources,and ensuring equal access to clean air and clean water,” he said.