A stark report by the African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) has cast a harsh light on Ghana’s export sector, ranking it among Africa’s 30 least competitive economies.
The findings underscore a decades-old dilemma: despite fleeting diversification into oil and pockets of innovation like fintech, Ghana remains shackled to raw commodity exports, leaving it exposed to global market shocks and stunting industrial progress.
Since independence, cocoa and gold have dominated Ghana’s trade portfolio, with crude oil joining the mix after its 2011 discovery. Yet successive governments have struggled to pivot from simply digging and drilling to adding value. The result? A lopsided trade cycle where unprocessed cocoa beans, crude oil, and gold are shipped abroad, only for Ghana to import pricier chocolate, refined fuels, and jewelry. ACET warns this pattern fuels inflation, weakens the cedi, and leaves the economy hostage to volatile commodity prices.
“Ghana’s export model is stuck in the past,” said Dr. Edward Brown, ACET’s Senior Director of Research and Policy. “Without competitive, value-added products, the country will keep missing out on global market opportunities.” The report singles out high production costs, crumbling infrastructure, and a lack of technological investment as key barriers. While nations like Eswatini have carved niches in textiles and manufacturing, Ghana’s industrial sector—hampered by erratic power, costly loans, and bureaucratic hurdles—has languished.
ACET’s prescription hinges on a radical rethink: shift from exporting raw materials to processed goods. Think chocolate bars instead of cocoa beans, refined petroleum products over crude oil, and finished textiles rather than cotton. Achieving this, analysts argue, demands more than lip service to “industrialization.” It requires targeted subsidies for factories, upgraded ports and roads to slash logistics costs, and incentives for tech adoption in agriculture and manufacturing.
Critics, however, point to a familiar pattern. Past initiatives, like the 2017 “One District, One Factory” program, promised similar transformation but yielded mixed results amid funding gaps and implementation flaws. This time, ACET insists success hinges on public-private collaboration, particularly in sectors where Ghana holds latent advantages, such as cashew processing and pharmaceuticals.
The stakes are high. With global demand for sustainable, traceable products rising, Ghana risks losing out if it fails to modernize. As Dr. Brown noted, “The world isn’t waiting—Ghana must choose between remaining a supplier of raw materials or claiming its share of higher-value markets.” For a nation eyeing economic sovereignty, the report serves as both a warning and a roadmap.
