Ghana@69: From gold and cocoa to value addition: Why we must break the raw export trap

By Elizabeth Ama Nkansah MENSAH

A red, gold and green flag will flutter on Ghana’s public buildings on March 6, 2026 to celebrate 69 years of independence. But below the pomp of yet another sovereignty ceremony lurks an enduring problem: Ghana attained political independence in 1957 but economic independence is yet to be won.

For over 60 years, Ghana’s export profile has changed little compared to its politics. Gold still accounts for over half of annual export receipts. Cocoa is still another mainstay of foreign exchange. Oil, timber and other primary commodities also feature largely in Ghana’s export mix.

Meanwhile, someone else manufactures refined gold, processes cocoa into chocolates, kicks our footballs around fancy stadiums and bottles our timber into designer perfume. This is known as the raw export trap.

A familiar refrain from Presidents past and present

For many years governments have recognised Ghana’s dependence on primary commodities for exports as untenable.

President John Mahama gave voice to a common sentiment that Ghana and indeed Africa must rethink how it trades with the rest of the world.
“When I think of how Africa trades with the rest of the world, I am taken aback by our inefficient use of our natural resources. For decades, Africa has exported cocoa, oil, cotton, timber and minerals in their raw forms only to re-import finished goods made from these same products at many times their original value”, he said at an Africa trade forum.

On another occasion, the President noted that “Ghana must earn more from its natural resource endowment if we are to create wealth and prosperity for our people”.

Simple enough. By selling unprocessed resources overseas, we earn limited profits and remain at the mercy of volatile international commodity prices. If we add value to those resources locally, we keep more of the profit, create jobs and grow our industries.

Take former President Nana Akufo-Addo for instance. Industrialisation featured prominently during his administration.

When launching the One District, One Factory programme, he vowed: “There can be no future prosperity for our people if we continue to maintain economic structures which are dependent on the production and export of raw materials. We must add value to these resources and we must industrialise”.

Truth be told, almost every President since independence has made promises to increase local processing and move away from exporting raw materials. With each fleeting season of Ghanaian politics we hear a familiar promise to break the raw export trap and diversify the economy.

Words are easy. Turning them into results that better the lives of Ghanaians is hard.
You dno not have to take my word for it. Look around you. After 69 years of independence Ghana imports more than it exports. Even small price changes on the world market can translate into shocks to consumers. How many of us can truly say we have ve benefitted from sixty-nine years of independence?

After nearly seven decades, it is high time we moved from inspirational speeches to decisive actions. And more than that, it is time we see real results from those actions. By now we should be so far past the starting line. Instead, we are still desperately chasing economic independence.

The economic cost of standing still

The raw export model carries dire consequences.

First, it leaves the economy vulnerable to external shocks. Commodity price swings directly affect state revenue, foreign exchange reserves and macroeconomic stability.

Second, it limits employment generation. A tonne of cocoa beans exported raw earns far less than finished chocolate products sold globally. Gold refined into jewellery or industrial inputs creates more domestic value than ore shipped abroad.

Third, it constrains technological development. Processing industries require engineers, technicians, quality control specialists, marketers and logistics experts — skills that stimulate broader industrial ecosystems.

In the agricultural sector, policymakers have increasingly highlighted the link between value addition and rural transformation. The Minister of Food and Agriculture, Eric Opoku, has noted that agricultural processing will “create jobs, expand rural incomes and increase foreign exchange earnings”, alluding to efforts to attract investment into agro-industrial parks and downstream manufacturing.

The implication is clear: value addition is not merely about export statistics; it is about structural change.

Independence and economic sovereignty

If there is one thing we should not be proud of after 69 years of independence, it is the reality that we are still not economically self-sufficient. Too often, our economic fortunes appear tied to decisions and developments beyond our borders, leaving our stability vulnerable to external pressures.

Yet it is not too late to change course. The challenges are well known and widely discussed. What is required now is the resolve to act decisively, align policy with purpose and match rhetoric with sustained implementation. Knowing the problem is no longer enough; the moment demands disciplined action and a genuine commitment to economic transformation.

This is imperative, given that Ghana’s independence struggle was rooted in the principle of self-determination. Political control was reclaimed from colonial authority. Yet the economic architecture – heavily pivoted towards exporting raw materials — has proven more resilient.

True independence in 2026 must mean the capacity to shape production, control supply chains and retain a greater share of value generated from natural resources.

Industrialisation requires more than rhetoric. It demands reliable energy, efficient ports, modern transport infrastructure, access to long-term finance and consistent policy frameworks. Investors require certainty. Manufacturers require scale. Entrepreneurs require support systems that extend beyond political cycles.

The ambition to process more cocoa, refine more minerals and deepen petrochemical industries is not new. What has often been missing is continuity and disciplined implementation.

A national imperative

As Ghana commemorates 69 years of sovereignty, the celebration should also serve as a national audit. Have we moved sufficiently beyond the economic template inherited at independence? Or have we simply modernised an extractive model?

Breaking the raw export trap is neither ideological nor partisan. It is an economic imperative acknowledged by leaders across political divides. It requires courage to prioritise long-term industrial capacity over short-term gains and consistency that transcends electoral timelines.

If Ghana can transform its gold, cocoa, oil and agricultural resources into higher-value exports, it will not only strengthen foreign exchange earnings but also create the skilled employment base needed for sustainable prosperity.

Only then will the promise of independence extend beyond political sovereignty to genuine economic self-determination — completing, at last, the unfinished work of 6 March 1957.

The post Ghana@69: From gold and cocoa to value addition: Why we must break the raw export trap appeared first on The Business & Financial Times.

Read Full Story