35
Ghana’s mineral ores will no longer be exported in their raw form by 2030, according to a new policy direction revealed by President John Dramani Mahama, who also plans to make local processing the main focus of his government’s economic and employment drive.
President Mahama emphasised the necessity for Ghana to stop exporting raw materials and instead develop the ability to refine and add value domestically while speaking at the Accra Reset Addis Reckoning event in Addis Ababa on Saturday, February 14.
Before his journey to Addis Ababa, he continued, an emergency conference was held in Ghana to discuss the strategy’s application to the cocoa sector, which he acknowledged was confronting significant difficulties.
President Mahama announced his government’s intention to switch to domestic bond financing for cocoa procurement rather than depending on foreign funding arrangements.
He claims that the new strategy will guarantee that local processors get enough cocoa beans to boost output, generate employment, and fortify Ghana’s value chain.
”We have the capacity to process 400,000 tonnes of beans, but because those beans are collateralised, we cannot allocate those beans to the local processors, so we have to ship all the beans outside. Since we produce the beans, we can provide the local processors with 400,000 tonnes of our beans to add value. I say in 2030 there will be no mineral ore leaving Ghana. We are not going to ship manganese ore, bauxite, iron ore out of Ghana raw. You must process all that locally. That is the only way we can provide opportunities for our people,” he said
Source: newsthemegh.com
