Vice President Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang is calling on African countries to accelerate industrialization efforts, reduce dependence on raw material exports and place women and young people at the center of the continent’s economic transformation agenda.
Speaking through Deputy Trade Minister Sampson Ahi at the Accelerate Africa’s Growth Connect 2026 conference, the vice president said Africa must move beyond an economic model that relies heavily on exporting raw commodities while importing higher-value finished products.
“We are not content to export raw materials while others manufacture finished goods and sell them back to us at a premium,” she said. “That model has not served us, and we will not sustain it.”
The conference, held at the University of Ghana Cedi Conference Centre on Africa Day, brought together delegates from more than 30 African countries to discuss industrial transformation, skills development and continental trade cooperation.
The event focused on four key areas including policy and leadership, workforce development, job and wealth creation, and trade and knowledge exchange as governments and private sector leaders seek ways to deepen industrial capacity across the continent.
The remarks come as African governments intensify efforts to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement, which aims to strengthen intra-African trade and encourage regional manufacturing and value addition.
Ghana has positioned industrialization as a core pillar of its economic strategy, with policymakers increasingly emphasizing local processing, agribusiness expansion and technology-driven manufacturing to reduce import dependence and create jobs for the country’s growing youth population.
Nyakan June, founder and global chief executive officer of Twow Africa and convenor of the conference, called on Africans in the diaspora to play a more active role in supporting the continent’s industrialization drive.
