Trade Minister Outlines Comprehensive Strategy for Industrial Reset

The Minister for Trade, Agribusiness and Industry, Hon. Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has unveiled a rigorous roadmap to transition Ghana into a value-driven industrial economy at a high-level briefing at the recent Presidential Dialogue with the Private Sector.

Addressing a room of industry titans and policy stakeholders, the Minister announced that the long-awaited National Agribusiness Policy is headed for imminent Cabinet approval.

This policy is set to serve as the legal and strategic anchor for the administration’s goal of achieving 100% local value addition for priority commodities, effectively ending the era of raw material exportation.

She announced that the Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry (MoTAI) is currently rolling out targeted support for manufacturing and agro-processing clusters, designed to reduce the nation’s import dependency and create sustainable, high-quality jobs for the youth.

A core theme of the Minister’s address was the systematic removal of “regulatory bottlenecks,” that have historically hindered the ease of doing business in Ghana.

Hon. Ofosu-Adjare assured the business community that the Ministry is actively streamlining trade processes and enhancing access to finance for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).

“Our focus is to ensure that local industries are competitive enough to not only meet domestic demand but also expand into regional markets,” the Minister explained, noting that by lowering the barriers to entry and operational costs, the government aims to restore investor confidence and stimulate domestic industrial expansion.

According to MoTAI, this competitive edge is particularly vital as Ghana positions itself to be the primary production hub under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

Hon. Ofosu-Adjare noted that market access alone is not a guarantee of success; rather, it is the efficiency of local production that will determine Ghana’s dominance in the regional market.

Shifting

The Trade Minister was blunt about the necessity of a structural shift. She argued that the traditional model of exporting raw commodities is no longer viable in a modern global economy and emphasized that Ghana must deliberately shift to a value-driven industrial economy.

By focusing on agribusiness and the “industrial base,” the Ministry is attempting to capture the full value chain of Ghana’s natural resources – from the farm gate to the global supermarket shelf.

This sentiment was echoed by the Minister for Finance, who urged the private sector to ensure that the gains from these fiscal and macroeconomic reforms are translated into tangible benefits for the Ghanaian consumer.

The goal is a “virtuous cycle,” where industrial growth leads to lower prices and increased purchasing power.

Supporting this industrial push is a commitment to what the Minister for Government Communications, Hon. Felix Kwakye Ofosu, described as a strategy of “deepened collaboration.”

MoTAI noted that the Presidential Dialogue is not intended to be a one-off event but a permanent feature of governance. This ensures that policies – such as the upcoming Agribusiness Policy – are not crafted in a vacuum but reflect the “realities of businesses and households across the country.”

The government’s economic reset agenda places industrialization and private sector competitiveness at the center of recovery efforts.