Ghanaian leaders advocate for borderless African trade and industrial agricultural growth

Ghanaian Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture John Dumelo has called for a borderless Africa to enhance agricultural trade and food systems. Speaking at the Africa Food Systems Forum, Dumelo emphasized that African nations should leverage their diverse agricultural strengths through easier movement of goods across borders, citing the need to overcome bottlenecks such as visa restrictions, tariffs, and inadequate infrastructure.

In a related domestic development, President John Dramani Mahama has proposed the ‘Feed the Industries’ policy to link large-scale agricultural production with domestic processing. The initiative aims to support Ghana’s 24-Hour Economy by ensuring agro-processors have reliable, year-round supplies of raw materials.

A pilot program in the Central Region is expected to target over 18,000 youth employment opportunities across various sectors, including farming, logistics, and packaging. If rolled out nationwide, the program could potentially create more than 250,000 opportunities and increase factory capacity utilization for both domestic and export markets.