By Love Wilhelmina Abanonave
President John Dramani Mahama has outlined plans to end the export of raw mineral ores by 2030, pushing for local processing to create jobs and stimulate economic growth.
He stressed that this is the only way Ghanaian youth can gain access to job opportunities, hence the need for implementation and an end to mere rhetoric.
“By 2030, there will be no raw mineral ores leaving Ghana. We must process them locally. That is the only way we can provide opportunities for our young people, so we must stop the talking and start implementing,” he said.
President Mahama also highlighted a major shift in the country’s cocoa industry, declaring an end to foreign funding for cocoa purchases. He stated that Ghana has sufficient local currency, the cedi, to buy its cocoa beans, aiming to boost local processing and value addition.
He noted that Ghana has the capacity to process 400,000 tonnes of cocoa beans locally but lamented that the collateralisation of beans has hindered allocation to local processors, leading to the export of raw beans. He emphasised that buying beans locally would enable the allocation of 400,000 tonnes to domestic processors for value addition and job creation.
“We have decided to stop foreign funding in the purchase of our cocoa. We have enough cedis in Ghana to pay for our cocoa.”
Addressing the Accra Reset High-Level Addis Convening, hosted by himself and the African Union Commission today, 14 February, President Mahama explained that these reforms form part of his broader vision for Ghana’s development, focusing on industrialisation, value addition and economic transformation.
