A Ghanaian economist, Bernard Mensah was at the high table when the USA Secretary of State Mike Pompeo concluded discussions mostly centred on post-Covid economy effort.

Also in the meeting was the UK Minister Dominic Raab and other high ranking officials of the UK and the US governments.

The discussion also centered on  secure 5G telecommunications, and continuing negotiations on a U.S.-UK free trade agreement.

Mr Mensah who is President of Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and co-head of Global Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) Trading at Bank of America Merrill Lynch was instrumental in most of the discussions.

The younger brother of president of the Ghana Rugby Association, Herbert Mensah, based in London has jointly led the firm’s FICC Trading business globally since 2015 and assumed additional leadership responsibilities as the firm’s regional president in April 2018.

In his role as President of EMEA, Bernard is responsible for the execution and development of the bank’s strategy, business activities and support functions in the EMEA region.

These span corporate, commercial and investment banking, treasury services and sales and trading.

Mr Mensah is also responsible for ensuring the effective delivery of the broad Bank of America Merrill Lynch franchise to its corporate and institutional clients across the region.

He chairs the firm’s EMEA Executive Committee and is a member of the Global Banking and Markets Committee.

Mr Mensah has more than 20 years global trading and investing experience. He joined the firm in 2010 from Goldman Sachs in London, where he was a partner and global head of Bank Loan and Distressed Trading, and prior to that run the bank’s Asia Credit and Convertibles business, based in Hong Kong and Tokyo.

Before joining Goldman Sachs in 2000, Bernard worked as a Fixed Income Trader for Credit Suisse Financial Products in Europe and Asia, and for PricewaterhouseCoopers in audit and corporate finance.

Bernard received his BA in Social Sciences at the Joint School of Philosophy and Economics at the University of Bristol in 1989.

He is a qualified chartered accountant and became a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants England and Wales in 1992. Bernard sits on the Development Committee of the Royal Opera House.