Minister of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has reaffirmed Ghana’s position as an investment and industrial hub.
Speaking at the Commonwealth Enterprise and Investment Council business forum in London, she stressed that efforts are underway to boost value addition, including processing more cocoa locally.
She noted that Ghana recorded $5 billion in non-traditional exports in 2025.
“Ghana has set a target to process at least 50% of its cocoa domestically, we have already installed rising capacities of over 500,000 metric tonnes, the direction is set and it will not be reversed.
“The results of this pivot towards value addition are already visible in our non-traditional exports, in 2025 Ghana’s non-traditional exports sector hit 5 billion US dollars,” she said.
She added that the same approach is being applied to gold. She said Ghana is Africa’s leading gold producer, with output reaching nearly five million ounces in 2024.
She asserted that historically, much of this output left the country as unrefined gold bars, with refining margins estimated at 5% to 10% of the metal’s value captured abroad.
Ms Ofosu-Adjare highlighted that the state’s Act National Refinery has planned to locally process at least 50% of gold outputs by 2028, while also accumulating gold directly into reserves.
She said gross international reserves have risen to $14.5 billion, and national reserves are targeted to provide 15 months of import cover by 2028.
“We are also accumulating gold directly into reserves, gross international reserves as risen to 14.5 billion and the national reserves target 15 months of imports cover by 2028 anchored on the gold base accumulation strategies,” she stated.
Source: Vanessa Elizabeth Nkum
