Prez. Mahama Pledges $500m Oil Palm Investment
A major shift toward value addition in Ghana’s agricultural sector is underway, as President John Dramani Mahama declares an end to the export of raw tree crops without local processing.
Addressing participants at the Ghana Tree Crop Investment Summit in Accra on Tuesday, February 17, the President outlined an ambitious plan to process between 50 and 60 per cent of Ghana’s key tree crops locally each year. The targeted crops include cashew, shea and rubber commodities that have traditionally been exported in raw form and re-imported as finished products at significantly higher prices.
President Mahama stressed that the current model deprives Ghana of jobs, revenue and industrial growth. He said his administration is determined to reverse the trend by building a strong local processing industry that ensures Ghanaian produce is branded and sold as finished goods on the global market.
“I want to travel and be able to buy cashews and see the produce of Ghana, not the produce of India or some third-party country,” he stated, adding that exporting raw cashew, raw shea and unprocessed rubber while importing finished goods is economically unsustainable.
To achieve this transformation, the President announced plans to expand agro-industrial parks across the country and introduce attractive incentives to encourage private sector investment in processing facilities. He also indicated that regulatory supervision would be strengthened through the Tree Crops Development Authority to ensure efficiency and growth within the sector.
Highlighting oil palm as a strategic priority under the National Policy on Integrated Oil Palm Development, which he described as “red gold,” President Mahama revealed that government will commit $500 million to develop 100,000 hectares of oil palm plantations.
The investment, he explained, is expected to generate 250,000 direct jobs while accelerating agro-industrialisation. According to the President, the broader objective is to promote value addition, expand employment opportunities and position Ghana as a competitive processing hub within the sub-region.
