The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has called for a bold rethinking of Ghana’s trade strategy to drive sustainable growth, industrial transformation, and job creation.
Speaking at the joint World Bank–ACET–ISSER Seminar on the theme “Rethinking Trade for Growth and Jobs in Ghana” held in Accra on Thursday 7th May, 2026, the Hon. Minister said Ghana has reached a critical moment in its economic recovery and must now focus on building a resilient, value-driven economy.
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare noted that while Ghana has recorded significant macroeconomic gains, including a historic trade surplus of US$13.6 billion in 2025 and record international reserves, the country must not become complacent.
According to her, the impressive figures reflect deliberate reforms and disciplined economic management under the leadership of President John Dramani Mahama, but emphasized that true prosperity will come only through industrialization, value addition, and export diversification.
The Hon. Minister highlighted the government’s commitment to transforming Ghana from a raw material exporter into a self-reliant, import-substituting, and export-led economy.
She explained that the country is already making strides in this direction, particularly through increased processing of cocoa and reforms in the gold sector among others.
She revealed that Ghana’s non-traditional exports reached a record US$5 billion in 2025, representing a 30.7 percent increase over the previous year, with processed and semi-processed goods contributing over US$3 billion. Cocoa derivatives, including paste, butter, and powder, emerged as the highest earners, reinforcing the importance of value addition before export.
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare further stated that Ghana has set a target to process at least 50 percent of its cocoa domestically and has already installed grinding capacity exceeding 500,000 metric tonnes to support that ambition. Similar efforts, she said, are underway in the gold sector to ensure more value is retained within the country.
At the Ministry level, she said engagements with manufacturers, exporters, trade associations, and other stakeholders are ongoing to address operational bottlenecks, improve quality standards, and strengthen the competitiveness of Ghanaian products on international markets.
She also highlighted the Ministry’s flagship “Feed the Industry Programme” which seeks to ensure a reliable supply of quality raw materials for domestic industries, explaining that the initiative is critical to addressing the long-standing challenge of under-capacity production within the manufacturing sector.
On regional and international trade cooperation, the Hon. Minister disclosed that Ghana continues to advocate for the harmonisation of trade standards within the ECOWAS region to improve competitiveness under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). She added that bilateral engagements are also ongoing to address cross-border trade challenges and improve trade compliance.
Hon. Ofosu-Adjare commended the World Bank, the African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), and ISSER for convening the seminar, describing it as an important platform for evidence-based dialogue to shape Ghana’s economic future.
To conclude, she called on policymakers, researchers, development partners, and private sector actors to work collectively towards building a stronger and more competitive Ghanaian economy through strategic trade reforms.
The World Bank Regional Director Madam Seynabou Sakho, in a welcome address said Ghana can benefit more from trade by streamlineing logistics, enhance quality certification ecosystems and address sector specific constraints.
Trade, she stated has the potential of substantially driving growth and job creation, and called for enhanced strategies and reforms to enable Ghana utilize trade to achieve sustained and job creation growth.
The new joint seminar series between the World Bank, African Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) and the Institute of Statistics, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) is aimed at stimulating Public discussions on Trade Policy for development of the County.
