Ghana is stepping up efforts to attract foreign capital into its agriculture value chain, with Deputy Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Minister Sampson Ahi leading a government delegation in Istanbul to pitch investment-ready projects to Turkish agribusiness executives.
The closed-door engagement is part of Accra’s broader push to use strategic partnerships to speed the country’s agribusiness transformation and align trade, agriculture and industry as coordinated drivers of growth under the African Union’s Agenda 2063.
Ahi told the investors that the government’s emerging 24-Hour Economy initiative is intended to lift productivity, tighten linkages between farm and factory, and expand employment while positioning the country for a more competitive export posture.
Presenting the government’s Agribusiness Development Policy, the deputy minister said the framework is structured to raise yields through modern methods, stimulate value addition, improve market access, and crowd in private capital. He said the policy also targets food security and import substitution by expanding local output of rice, poultry and tomatoes.
He cited the Feed the Industry Initiative, which backs contract farming to supply industry; the Accelerated Export Development Programme to diversify non-traditional exports; and the Women in Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Initiative to extend targeted capital and capacity to female-led enterprises.
Ahi outlined a pipeline of openings for Turkish capital across cocoa value addition, horticulture, food processing and mechanised cultivation of rice, maize and soy, and called for collaboration in cold-chain logistics, modern packaging and agri-tech including drone farming and satellite-assisted irrigation.
To reduce barrier-to-entry risk, he highlighted fiscal and regulatory incentives such as a 10-year tax holiday for Free Zone enterprises, duty exemptions on machinery and equipment, pioneer status for agro-processors and full repatriation of capital and profits under existing investment protection agreements. He added that business regulatory reforms are underway to streamline procedures.
“The government is determined to make Ghana not just open for business, but the easiest place to do business on the continent,” Ahi said.
Both sides signaled intent to follow up on identified areas of interest, with the talks framed as a first step toward deeper Ghana–Turkey cooperation in agribusiness and export-oriented industrialisation.
