Akuetteh, Cynthia H. (Cynthia Helen), 1948-

<p>Cynthia Akuetteh (born Cynthia Helen Archie in 1948) is a diplomat and was the United States Ambassador to São Tomé and Príncipe and United States Ambassador to Gabon.</p>

<p>Akuetteh was born Cynthia Helen Archie in Washington, D.C. to Richard Louis Archie II and Sallie Dolores Hines. She earned a B.A. degree in history with honors from C.W. Post College of Long Island University in 1970, and was awarded a master's degree in National Security Resource Policy from the National Defense University in 1973. Akuetteh completed two years of graduate study at Columbia University.</p>

<p>Akuetteh began her career with the Peace Corps. Her initial assignment was as a Program Officer in Washington, D.C. She then moved to Ghana as Deputy Director of the program there. After Akuetteh entered the U.S. Foreign Service in 1984, she held a series of international assignments in Niger, Tanzania, Canada and Venezuela. Much of her subsequent work was focused on Africa. She served as the Deputy Director of the Africa Bureau's Economic Policy Staff, and later as Director of the Office of Central African Affairs, overseeing bilateral relations with ten African nations. She also served as Deputy Assistant Secretary for African Affairs from 2012 to 2013. In 2012 she headed the U.S. delegation to a meeting of the US – Nigeria Bi-national Commission on the Niger Delta and National Development Working Group held in Port Harcourt.</p>

<p>She appeared before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee December 17, 2013 to discuss her vision for her role as ambassador. Following Senate confirmation, she was sworn in as U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Gabon and São Tomé and Príncipe on August 1, 2014. She was welcomed as ambassador when she visited the city of Franceville in 2015. At a time of political unrest in Gabon, she publicly expressed concern over any "extra-constitutional" moves for regime change and promoted "democratic" solutions.</p>

<p>In May 2015, Akuetteh welcomed U.S. military members joining together with military from 15 African countries as well as the U.N. at the opening ceremony of the Central Accord 2015 exercise at Libreville, Gabon. Akuetteh noted that the prime purpose of the undertaking was to maintain peace and strengthen the relationships of the countries participating. She retired in February 2018.</p>

<p>In 2014, Cynthia Akuetteh, career Senior Foreign Service officer, was nominated by President Barack Obama to serve as ambassador to Gabon and the island nation of Sao Tomé & Principe. After U.S. Senate confirmation she arrived in Libreville, capital of Gabon, to take up her post.</p>

<p>Akuetteh (née Cynthia Archie) was born in Washington, D.C. in 1948 to Richard Louis Archie II and Sallie Dolores Hines. In 1970 she graduated from Long Island University in New York with a B.A. degree in History. In 1973 she earned a Master’s Degree in National Security Resource Policy from the National Defense University in Washington, D.C.</p>

<p>From 1973 to 1984 Akuetteh served as a Program Officer for the U.S. Peace Corps in Washington, D.C. and then was Deputy Director of the Corps’s program in Ghana.</p>

<p>Akuetteh joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1984. Her embassy assignments between 1984 and 2004 included serving as the U.S. Trade Officer in Niamey, Niger and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Policy Officer in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada; and as Senior Desk Officer in Caracas, Venezuela.</p>

<p>Between 2004 and 2005 she was Deputy Director in the Office of Economic Policy, the Bureau of African Affairs at the State Department. From 2005 to 2007 she was an economic policy officer at the U.S. Embassy in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso. She held the same post in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire between 2007 and 2009. Returning to the State Department she became a Director in the Office of Central African Affairs (2009-2011) and held the same post in the Office of Europe, Middle East, and Africa for the Bureau of Energy Resources (2011-2012). From 2012 until her appointment as ambassador she was Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Bureau of African Affairs.</p>

<p>As Ambassador to Gabon and Sao Tomé and Principe, Akuetteh led U.S. diplomatic efforts to prevent popular unrest in Gabon aimed at the Bongo family (Ali and his deceased father, Omar). The family has ruled this oil- and mineral-rich nation since 1967 and often aligned Gabon with U.S. diplomatic interests in the region. Akuetteh has also promoted greater U.S. trade, investment, and tourism. She was also a key factor in Gabon agreeing to allow U.S. Navy, Marines, and Coast Guard assistance in policing its shores to provide port security and prevent piracy and human, diamond, and weapons trafficking.</p>

<p>Her efforts in neighboring Sao Tomé and Principe have been to alleviate poverty and keep it from disrupting the political stability of the second smallest island nation and one of the poorest countries in the world.</p>

<p>A divorcee, Akuetteh was previously married to Nii Akuetteh, a Ghanaian-born policy analyst and activist who founded the Democracy and Conflict Research Institute in Accra, Ghana. He currently serves as executive director of the Scholars Council of the TransAfrica Forum. They are the parents of two children. Her daughter, Nueteki Akuetteh, is vice president of Global Operations for Young Professionals in Foreign Policy. They also have a son, NiiNoi Akuetteh.</p>