845K.2614/10–252: Telegram
The Secretary of State to the Consulate at Accra
35. US Govt not considering extension any loan or grant either directly or thru intermediaries for use implementing Volta project since no request for such loan or grant recd. (urtel 52 Oct 2)1
Two avenues approach open Gold Coast Govt if interested. Eximbank wld consider request for loan within limits statutory auth and financial resources on presentation specific proposals. MSA might be able fin certain features project under Basic Materials Program and wld consider request submitted thru Brit Colonial Office where some discussions of Volta project have been carried on.
US Govt interested procurement aluminum under stockpile program [Page 278] for next two or three years by which time anticipated present program plant construction will meet US requirements under conditions of partial mobilization. Doubtful therefore US Govt wld be interested establishing claim eventual Gold Coast production view time element completion Volta project. Possible private Amer interests wld consider specific proposals presented by Gold Coast Govt.
- Not printed; it indicated that Nkrumah wished to know whether or not the United States contemplated extending a loan or grant directly or through an intermediary to the Gold Coast to finance the Volta project. An American promoter, Louis E. Detwiler, in concert with Dr. Horace Mann Bond, the president of Lincoln University, had been trying to interest him in a business arrangement relating to this project by hinting at U.S. financial backing. (845K.2614/10–252)↩