Ghana is forfeiting an estimated $2.5 billion every year by exporting raw agricultural produce without processing it, the Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has revealed, as the government moves to finalise a series of industrial policies aimed at reversing that trend.
Speaking on the second day of the 2026 Kwahu Business Forum at the Kwahu Convention Centre in Mpraeso on Saturday, the minister framed the figure not as a cause for alarm but as a measure of opportunity. “Ghana loses an estimated $2.5 billion annually in unrealized value from raw agricultural produce alone, an amount that represents not a lament but a clear opportunity this government is determined to seize,” she said.
The forum, held under the theme “The Future of Business: The Role of the Financial Sector,” brought together President John Dramani Mahama, the Governor of the Bank of Ghana Dr Johnson Pandit Asiama, private sector leaders and development partners. Ofosu-Adjare used the platform to present the government’s emerging industrial strategy in full, arguing that the barrier to Ghana’s economic transformation is no longer entrepreneurial spirit but the structural conditions that allow businesses to grow. “The constraint has never been ingenuity. The constraint has been skill and conditions necessary to achieve it,” she said.
The minister disclosed that her ministry has developed sector-specific industrial policy frameworks covering textiles and garments, pharmaceuticals and automotive components, all of which are expected to be submitted to Cabinet in the coming months. The policies are designed to provide regulatory clarity, investment incentives and product standards to support enterprise expansion.
At the same time, the government is repositioning special economic zones into what she described as active industrial ecosystems focused on agro-processing and light manufacturing, replacing their traditional function as export enclaves with a model oriented toward domestic value addition.
A national agribusiness policy has also been finalised and submitted for approval, targeting value addition across agricultural supply chains. The policy, which emerged from a consultative process that began in July 2025, follows a February 2026 roundtable held by the ministry at which agribusiness executives cited import competition, high electricity costs and expensive credit as barriers to domestic production.
Ghana’s position as host of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat features centrally in the strategy. Ofosu-Adjare said the government is working to ensure that local enterprises have access to rules of origin certification, tariff intelligence and market linkages needed to compete across the continent. “We are working to ensure that enterprises have access to rules of origin certification, tariff intelligence and market linkages necessary to compete and win in the continental markets,” she said.
The minister was direct in her assessment of what policy alone can deliver, stressing that the private sector must match government commitment with investment, technology adoption and stronger governance standards. Without that participation, she argued, industrial ambition would remain on paper.
The Kwahu Business Forum, now in its third edition, was initiated by President Mahama and Chief of Staff Julius Debrah as a platform to align public policy with private sector growth. This year’s edition drew more than 1,000 participants, including entrepreneurs, banking executives and Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) owners, with a trade exhibition featuring over 200 registered businesses running alongside the policy sessions.
