Ghana has chosen two everyday industries, chicken and clothing, to demonstrate how the New Economy can replace imports with local production, backed by a ring-fenced levy and a US$1 billion commitment to the textile sector.
From 2027, Ghana EXIM Bank will dedicate at least 40 per cent of the revenue from the Ghana Export-Import Bank Levy to the poultry sector, supporting farmers and feed producers to expand production and meet domestic demand, Finance Minister Cassiel Ato Forson told Parliament.
The government will also uncap the levies allocated to the bank, with the goal of making Ghana self-sufficient in poultry and animal feed.
The design links two ends of one value chain, since support for both farmers and feed producers addresses the input and the output together. Dedicating a share of levy revenue to the sector also gives the support a defined source.
Textiles follow the same logic. The budget describes the aim as fabrics made in Ghana and garments sewn in Ghana; the government will invest US$1 billion in the textile and garment industry. Under the 24-Hour Economy and Accelerated Export Development Programme, Dr Forson said the government will “turn Ghanaian creativity and craftsmanship into industrial growth, exports and jobs.”
Finance is the enabling piece. Government will work through Development Bank Ghana, Ghana EXIM Bank and participating financial institutions to expand lending to productive businesses, and the minister said that “affordable finance will turn stability into opportunity.”
The government also plans to review customs tariff and duty concessions on selected raw materials, machinery and other inputs to support local industry, which could lower the cost of what factories import to make what they sell.
The two sectors test different capacities, one in agriculture and feed and the other in manufacturing and power, yet both serve the programme’s stated aim of reducing dependence on imported goods. Output and employment in each will show whether that aim is being met.
Both initiatives carry a delivery risk common to targeted funding. Ring-fencing a levy can guarantee a source of financing, but not results, and the 40 per cent allocation to poultry will require transparent reporting on who receives support and what it delivers.
The budget has committed the funding. Ghana’s farmers and garment makers must now show what it can produce.
