President John Dramani Mahama has announced that the newly established Accelerated Export Development Committee (AEDC) is expected to drive Ghana’s non-traditional export earnings from the current $3.5 billion to an ambitious $10 billion annually by 2030.

According to him women and small and medium enterprises — key drivers of innovation and resilience — contribute less than 4% to Ghana’s total export capacity. This delayed prosperity is something we must and will correct.

Thus the formation of an 18-member presidential committee, inaugurated as part of a broader strategy to expand Ghana’s foreign exchange inflows and stimulate long-term economic growth, will play a critical role in coordinating the country’s export development efforts.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony on Monday, May 5, 2025 President Mahama underscored the committee’s pivotal mandate.

“The AEDC has been established to serve as a high-level platform for strategic coordination, policy coherence, and institutional accountability in our export development efforts. Our strategy is ambitious but deliberate,” he said.

He added that under the Accelerated Export Development Programme, the Advisory Committee, and the National Export Development Strategy, Ghana aims to grow its non-traditional exports significantly by prioritizing value addition and economic diversification."Through the Accelerated Export Development Programme, the Advisory Committee, and the National Export Development Strategy, our goal is to raise Ghana’s non-traditional export earnings from $3.5 billion annually to at least $10 billion by 2030."

“Ghana’s current exports remain dominated by low-complexity raw materials such as gold, cocoa, cashew, and timber, mostly in their raw state. We must change this narrative,” President Mahama noted.

In addition to boosting export earnings, the President reiterated the government’s commitment to modernising the country’s ports to enhance trade efficiency.

“Ghana’s exporters face some of the highest logistics costs in West Africa, and our export clearance times exceed regional averages. We will therefore modernize our ports, revamp the Volta Lake Transport Company, develop the Mpakadan Port, operationalize the Bankra Inland Port, and expand the cold chain infrastructure to support our fisheries and horticultural sectors,” he said.

These interventions, President Mahama stressed, are crucial for improving transportation, reducing spoilage, and enhancing competitiveness, particularly for producers based in the hinterlands.Meanwhile, the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) reports that total earnings from the Non-Traditional Export Sector reached US$3.94 billion in 2023—an 11.4% increase over the previous year.

While this growth is encouraging, it highlights the significant challenge the newly formed committee must overcome to reach the ambitious $10 billion target within the next five years.