President John Mahama has unveiled a new policy aimed at ending the export of Ghana’s mineral ores in their raw form by 2030, as part of his administration’s effort to drive industrialisation and create jobs.
Speaking at the Accra Reset Addis Reckoning event in Addis Ababa, President Mahama emphasized the need for Ghana to shift from exporting unprocessed resources to building robust local refining and processing capacities.
“I say in 2030 there will be no mineral ore leaving Ghana. We are not going to ship manganese ore, bauxite, iron ore out of Ghana raw. You must process all that locally. That is the only way we can provide opportunities for our people,” he said.
The President explained that exporting raw materials has historically denied the country significant revenue, employment opportunities, and industrial growth, leaving Ghana overly dependent on foreign markets.
He highlighted that the policy is already being applied to the cocoa sector, which is currently facing financial and operational challenges.
Before departing for Addis Ababa, his government held an emergency meeting in Ghana to address issues affecting the sector, particularly financing and supply constraints that hinder local processors.
As part of the reforms, President Mahama said the government will shift from foreign-backed financing for cocoa purchases to domestic funding through bonds.
“This new model will allow more cocoa beans to be reserved for local processing and value addition,” he said.
“We have the capacity to process 400,000 tonnes of beans, but because those beans are collateralised, we cannot allocate those beans to the local processors, so we have to ship all the beans outside,” he explained.
“Since we produce the beans, we can provide the local processors with 400,000 tonnes of our beans to add value,” he added.
Under the previous system, large quantities of Ghana’s cocoa were used as collateral for foreign loans, limiting support for domestic industries.
President Mahama said moving to domestic financing will give the government greater control over the sector and ensure local processors receive sufficient raw materials to expand production and create employment.
He noted that adding value to resources such as gold, bauxite, manganese, iron ore, and cocoa would help reduce unemployment, strengthen the cedi, and improve the country’s trade balance.
