For many African countries, including Ghana, exporting raw materials is often seen as a quick way to earn foreign exchange and boost the economy.
But there’s a hidden cost that too few stop to consider, the thousands of potential jobs that leave the country along with those unprocessed resources.
This is the stark reality highlighted by Hassatou Diop N’Sele, Chief Financial Officer of the African Development Bank.
Speaking during the Bank’s 2025 Annual Meetings in Abidjan and on Radio France International’s flagship programme Appels sur l’actualité, she laid bare a challenge that many African leaders know but hesitate to fully confront. Exporting of raw materials.
“By exporting our raw materials, we export our jobs,” she said. “Our products lack added value. That’s why it is so important to speed up implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area.”
Her statement is a wake-up call, especially for countries like Ghana where raw commodity exports dominate, but local industrialization and job creation have lagged behind.
Ghana’s economy relies heavily on exporting gold, crude oil, cocoa, and other raw materials. While these exports bring in revenue, they also represent missed opportunities to build industries that add value and generate employment.
For example, while Ghana is a top gold producer, most refining and jewelry manufacturing happen abroad, meaning much of the workforce and wealth generated by the sector is created outside Ghana’s borders.
The same is true for oil and cocoa, two pillars of Ghana’s export economy that currently deliver limited jobs beyond extraction and harvesting.
What this means in practical terms is that Ghana is effectively sending jobs overseas every time it ships out raw materials instead of investing in local processing and manufacturing. The economic and social costs of this “job export” are felt across communities and have long-term consequences for sustainable development.
In the view of Ms. Diop N’Sele, Africa must shift from exporting raw materials to building value chains within the continent, a shift that requires stronger industrial policies, better regional integration, and an urgent push to implement the African Continental Free Trade Area.
For Ghana and others, the path forward lies in retaining those jobs at home, turning raw materials into finished goods and services, empowering workers, and building resilient economies that can weather global challenges.
