President John Dramani Mahama has positioned Ghana’s agriculture and agro-processing industries as the backbone of the country’s economic transformation agenda, urging Japanese investors to take advantage of the sector’s vast potential.
Speaking at the Presidential Investment Forum in Japan, President Mahama stressed that agriculture remains Ghana’s strongest comparative advantage.
“He mentioned the area of agribusiness and agro-processing. Of course, that is one of the main focus in terms of economic transformation,” he said.
“Ghana has a comparative advantage when it comes to agriculture and agribusiness in terms of available arable lands, in terms of sunshine, in terms of water. We have the world’s largest man-made lake.”
According to him, the Volta Lake and surrounding lands provide enormous opportunities for large-scale irrigation.
“We have millions of hectares of land that border that huge lake. And the water can be used to bring about 2 million hectares of land under irrigation,” he noted, adding that government intends to create industrial parks along the proposed Volta Economic Corridor to boost agro-processing, textile manufacturing, and exports to the EU, U.S., and beyond.
President Mahama told the forum that these initiatives form part of broader reforms aimed at making Ghana a more attractive destination for foreign investment.
He assured Japanese businesses that barriers in the investment framework, including capital requirements, are being reviewed to ease entry into the market.
The President emphasized that Ghana’s improved macroeconomic stability — including falling inflation, a stable cedi, and improved credit ratings — provides a strong foundation for investors to leverage opportunities in agriculture, agro-processing, and other key sectors.
