ABOUT THE EMBASSY

EMBASSY OFFICES

Deputy Chief of Mission Akuetteh (Photo: Honore Koffi/US Embassy)

Deputy Chief of Mission Cynthia H. AKUETTEH

The Deputy Chief of Mission (DCM) is the second in charge at the Embassy and acts as the Chargé d'Affaires, a. i. in the absence of the Ambassador.

Cynthia Akuetteh joined the U.S. Foreign Service in 1984 as an economic officer.  She has been Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Abidjan since August 2007.  Prior to her arrival in Abidjan, she served as the Deputy Chief of Mission in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso from 2005-2007.  Previously, she served as the Deputy Director of the Africa Bureau’s Economic Policy Staff, where she focused on Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and other trade issues.  In previous assignments in the State Department, Cynthia served as the Deputy Division Chief in the Office of Bilateral Trade Affairs, International Economist in the Office of Economic Sanctions, senior Venezuela Desk Officer and International Economist in the Office of Energy Policy.  Her overseas tours include Ottawa, Canada; Niamey, Niger and Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania.  Before joining the Foreign Service, Cynthia worked for Peace Corps and served as the Peace Corps Deputy Country Director for Ghana.

Cynthia holds a B.A. (Honors) from C.W. Post College of Long Island University and a Master’s in National Security Resource Policy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces at the National Defense University.  She also completed two years of graduate study at Columbia University.