President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana will stop using foreign funding to purchase cocoa and instead raise domestic bonds in cedis, while also setting a 2030 deadline to end exports of unprocessed mineral ores, in a sweeping push he framed as economic sovereignty.
Mahama announced the measures in Addis Ababa at the close of his high-level side event, “Accra Reset’s Addis Reckoning,” held on the sidelines of the 39th African Union Assembly of Heads of State. “One of the key decisions we’ve made is to stop accepting foreign funding for the purchase of our cocoa. We are going to raise domestic bonds. We have enough Cedis in Ghana to pay for our cocoa,” Mahama said.
Cocoa Financing Shift
Ghana, the world’s second-biggest cocoa producer, has long relied on external financing structures to fund purchases from farmers. Mahama said the country’s recent cocoa crisis exposed the vulnerabilities of that system, including currency and price swings that created large losses.
After Ghana set a producer price when international cocoa traded at $7,200 per ton and the Ghana Cedi stood at 11.5 to the dollar, conditions shifted sharply, he said. Prices later fell to $4,200, while the Ghana Cedi appreciated to 10.7 per dollar.
Mahama said the bigger constraint has been how foreign financing is structured. “You know what the collateral for the funding is? Our own cocoa beans. You collateralise the beans with the financier, buy them, ship them, and they pay you the international market price,” he said.
“You know the interesting part? We have the capacity to process 400,000 tons of those beans in Ghana, but because they are collateralised, we cannot even allocate them to local processors. We must ship all the beans outside.”
Under the new plan, Ghana will raise domestic bonds in Ghana cedis to buy cocoa directly, eliminating the need to pledge beans as collateral. Mahama said the move will immediately unlock 400,000 tons of cocoa beans for local processing, supporting job creation and higher value retention.
Ban on Raw Ore Exports
President Mahama also said Ghana will move to stop exporting unprocessed minerals by the end of the decade, forcing domestic processing across key commodities. “I say by 2030, there won’t be any raw mineral ores leaving Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw manganese ore out of Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw bauxite ore out of Ghana. You’re not going to ship raw iron ore out of Ghana. You must process all that locally,” he said.
The policy is a major escalation in Ghana’s longstanding push for industrialisation, with potential implications for mining companies operating in the country and for investors in refining and processing infrastructure.
Accra Reset and Urgency
The President described the cocoa and minerals policies as a direct application of the Accra Reset initiative, his continental platform focused on resource sovereignty, domestic processing and stronger African economic integration.
He linked the urgency to rising pressure from Africa’s youthful population. “That is the only way we can provide opportunities for our young people. Our young people are less patient than our generation. They want to see that progress and prosperity today,” he said.
He also tied the agenda to irregular migration. “That is why Accra Reset needs that urgency to stop our young people from braving the dangers of the Sahara and the Mediterranean as they try to reach Europe in search of opportunity,” he said.
Mahama said African leaders have repeatedly agreed on frameworks but failed to execute them at speed.
“We come with the decisions. We agree. We do the frameworks. What is missing is urgency and implementation. We take time. And we behave like time is waiting for us,” he said.
“That is why Accra Reset is a good idea. But let’s implement urgently. If parts of the continent are not ready, let’s form a coalition of the willing to move this as quickly as possible. And let all the others follow and join.” Mahama ended by urging immediate action.“From Addis, we must stop talking and start implementing,” he said.
