The Ministry of Trade, Agribusiness and Industry has opened talks with the Ghana Commodity Exchange (GCX) to deepen collaboration as the government seeks to align commodity trading infrastructure more closely with its trade, industrialisation and export strategy.
The engagement, held at the ministry, brought together senior officials from MoTAI and the leadership of the Exchange to review GCX’s operations and explore areas of policy support. Speaking on behalf of Deputy Trade Minister Sampson Ahi, the Director of Small and Medium Enterprises, Cynthia Djokoto, said the discussions were a priority for the ministry as it works to better understand how the Exchange can support national trade and industrial objectives.
The GCX delegation, led by Chief Executive Officer Evelyn Abaka, outlined the Exchange’s mandate, performance and constraints since commencing operations in 2018. The Exchange currently trades commodities including maize, soya, cashew and rice, using a network of nine warehouses concentrated largely in Ghana’s northern and middle belts.
According to GCX, total traded value from spot and over-the-counter transactions exceeded GH¢1.8 billion in 2025, with volumes surpassing 78,000 metric tonnes. The Exchange said it has also supported more than 50,000 farmers through capacity-building programmes and initiatives to reduce post-harvest losses, while enforcing quality standards such as the national aflatoxin limit of 15 parts per billion.
GCX used the meeting to press for stronger policy backing, including mandates for key commodities such as soya, sesame, shea and cashew to be traded through the Exchange. It also called for government support to expand warehousing capacity and upgrade information technology systems to improve efficiency and scale.
In response, the Director of Trade Development, Kobena Ebo Quayson, said the ministry remains committed to working closely with the Exchange and pledged to strengthen the Grains Committee to help address outstanding policy and regulatory issues.
The discussions underscore the government’s broader effort to use market infrastructure to improve price transparency, reduce post-harvest losses and support value chain development, as Ghana positions agriculture and agribusiness as pillars of its industrialisation and export-led growth agenda.
