President John Dramani Mahama has disclosed that Ghana has secured significant fiscal space under its ongoing engagement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), freeing up billions of dollars to self-finance a new $10 billion industrial transformation agenda while setting a firm 2030 deadline to end the export of raw mineral ores.
Speaking at the Financial Times Africa Summit in London, President Mahama revealed that, following Ghana’s successful transition from an Extended Credit Facility to a non-financing Policy Coordination Instrument (PCI), the government negotiated a reduction in its primary budget balance target from 1.5 percent to 0.5 percent.
This strategic one-percentage-point adjustment unlocks substantial domestic resources that will directly fund the government’s upcoming New Economy Plan. To be formally launched by the Minister for Finance, the self-financed initiative will deploy $10 billion over four years, allocating $2.5 billion annually to nine job-rich sectors, including agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, energy, textiles and garments, and tourism.
“The reforms have freed up quite a lot of resources for us… This year, the Finance Minister is going to launch the new economy plan. It is self-financed and will involve another $10 billion over four years,” President Mahama told international investors and business leaders.
Enforcing Value Addition and the 2030 Mineral Export Ban
Leveraging this expanded fiscal flexibility, President Mahama reiterated that Ghana will enforce a progressive ban on raw ore exports by 2030, urging global investors to move beyond raw material extraction and establish domestic processing and refining hubs.
The export restriction will be phased across key mineral value chains, including lithium, manganese, bauxite and gold. Highlighting existing milestones, President Mahama noted that Ghana already refines 70 percent of its gold locally before export, with targets to reach 100 percent alongside an expanding downstream commercial jewellery industry.
To complete the bauxite-to-aluminium value chain, the President invited foreign direct investment in an integrated alumina refinery that would process raw bauxite locally before smelting. Similarly, a new national agribusiness mandate requires at least 50 percent of Ghana’s annual cocoa bean crop to be processed domestically, restricting raw bean exports to drive local industrialisation.
“We have gone past the time when you had enclaves of prosperity surrounded by impoverished communities,” Mahama emphasised. “It is in the investor’s interest to have a safe environment… Working together with the investor community, we must bring some of that processing home.”
Macroeconomic Stability and Open-Door Investment Policy
Addressing broader economic conditions, President Mahama underscored that Ghana’s fiscal discipline has stabilised the economy despite tensions in the Middle East and global trade disruptions. Inflation has dropped to approximately 5 percent, supported by a stable currency and declining interest rates.
Reaffirming Ghana’s non-aligned foreign policy, captured in the motto “friends to all and enemies to none”, President Mahama assured investors from the West, Asia and emerging markets that Ghana remains open to commercial partnerships grounded in mutual value addition and fair returns.
