Ghana to buy cocoa with cedi, end raw mineral exports by 2030—Mahama

President John Dramani Mahama has announced major policy changes aimed at restructuring Ghana’s resource economy, including plans to finance cocoa purchases locally and halt the export of unprocessed minerals by 2030.

The president disclosed the measures at the closing of his high-level side event, “Accra Reset’s Addis Reckoning,” held on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Assembly of Heads of State.

He said the government will move away from foreign-backed cocoa financing arrangements and instead mobilise domestic capital.

“One of the key decisions we’ve made is to stop accepting foreign funding for the purchase of our cocoa. We are going to raise domestic bonds. We have enough cedis in Ghana to pay for our cocoa,” President Mahama said.

According to him, recent price swings in the international cocoa market exposed weaknesses in the existing system. Ghana set a producer price when cocoa sold at $7,200 per tonne and the cedi traded at 11.5 to the dollar, but losses followed when prices fell to $4,200 while the cedi strengthened to 10.7.

He noted that under current arrangements, cocoa beans are pledged as collateral to external financiers, limiting Ghana’s ability to process them locally.

“You know what the collateral for the funding is? Our own cocoa beans. You collateralise the beans with the financier, buy them, ship them, and they pay you the international market price,” he explained.

“You know the interesting part? We have the capacity to process 400,000 tons of those beans in Ghana, but because they are collateralised, we cannot even allocate them to local processors. We must ship all the beans outside.”

Government expects the domestic financing model to release about 400,000 tonnes of cocoa annually for local processing and value addition.

President Mahama also announced plans to stop exporting raw mineral ores within the next decade as part of a broader industrialisation drive.

“I say by 2030, there won’t be any raw mineral ores leaving Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw manganese ore out of Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw bauxite ore out of Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw iron ore out of Ghana. You must process all that locally,” he said.

He linked the decision to employment creation and youth economic opportunities.

“That is the only way we can provide opportunities for our young people. Our young people are less patient than our generation. They want to see that progress and prosperity today,” he said.

The President added that speeding up implementation is necessary to address migration pressures.

“That is why Accra Reset needs that urgency to stop our young people from braving the dangers of the Sahara and the Mediterranean as they try to reach Europe in search of opportunity.”

He urged African countries ready to act to move forward collectively. “We come with the decisions. We agree. We do the frameworks. What is missing is urgency and implementation. We take time. And we behave like time is waiting for us,” he said.

“That is why Accra Reset is a good idea. But let’s implement urgently. If parts of the continent are not ready, let’s form a coalition of the willing to move this as quickly as possible. And let all the others follow and join.”

The policy direction forms part of the Accra Reset initiative, which promotes value addition and resource sovereignty across Africa.

“From Addis, we must stop talking and start implementing,” President Mahama concluded.