Within a year, Ghana lost about $70 million to under-declaration of export revenues and excess shipments beyond approved permits, according to a recent joint investigative audit conducted by the Ghana Revenue Authority (GRA) and the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA).

The report attributes the revenue loss to widespread under-invoicing and regulatory breaches in the sector, raising concerns about revenue losses and the survival of local processing firms.

According to GRA’s data, 89.68 million tonnes of raw rubber were exported in 2024; however, no permit had been issued by the Tree Crops Development Authority (the body controlling, monitoring, and issuing permits for exports of tree crops like rubber) for that year.

In 2025, although permits were granted for 13,000 tonnes, official export figures reached 39,000 tonnes, an excess of 26,000 tonnes.

The report highlighted significant under-invoicing, noting that while the TCDA set minimum prices at GH¢8.62 per kilogramme in 2024 and GH¢9.08 in 2025, exporters declared Free on Board prices as low as GH¢0.99 and GH¢1.91, respectively.

“This means that every kilogramme of exported raw rubber in 2024 and 2025 was under-invoiced by an average of GH¢7.63 and GH¢7.17, respectively,” the report said, adding that exporters declared only about 12% of the actual export value in 2024 and 22% in 2025.

According to Ghana’s Foreign Exchange Act, 2006 (Act 723), Section 15, exporters are required to send all the money they earn from selling goods abroad back to Ghana through official, licensed banks.

In 2024, exporters earned $55.83 million from rubber exports, but only $6.17 million of this money was sent back to Ghana through licensed banks. This means that $49.66 million, or about 89% of the earnings, was kept abroad instead of being repatriated.

In 2025, the situation was similar. Out of $26.03 million earned from exports, only $4.48 million was returned to the country. This means that $21.55 million, or roughly 83% of the earnings, remained outside Ghana.

The situation has also impacted the local industry. Despite having a combined processing capacity of over 171,000 tonnes annually, Ghana produced only about 110,800 tonnes of raw rubber in 2025, leaving a deficit of more than 60,000 tonnes.

This shortfall has forced local factories to operate below capacity, with production dropping to less than 40 percent and job cuts exceeding 35 percent. One processing company has reportedly halted operations entirely, while others have scaled down significantly.

Meanwhile, in 2022, the Management of the Ghana Rubber Estate Limited (GREL) said the current market arrangement on rubber continued to impact investment in the local rubber industry, as continuous exportation of the raw material derailed the chances of investors recovering their investments.

The diversion of unprocessed rubber by some farmers, selling to persons who exported the commodity mostly to the Asian market, affected local financial institutions that had financed the plantations.

Meanwhile, the development also denied the state some tax revenue from the commodity, given that there was no value addition.

Managing Director of GREL, Lionel Barre, during the presentation of a cheque for €668,750 as dividend payment to the Ministry of Finance in Accra, observed that exportation of the raw material compelled GREL to import rubber for processing.

This followed the company’s first phase of a €62 million rubber processing factory, which had started some two years earlier.

Barre noted that they could have developed bigger and faster than they were at the time, and expressed regret that after all those years, they were still focusing on supply chains instead of investing in value chains. He said this had encouraged more people to export raw material rather than adding value to the product.

He also highlighted that failing to ensure firm regulation of the rubber value chain could affect the future investment of GREL, especially since the situation was different in neighbouring countries.

Barre emphasized that GREL had created a supply chain for rubber but not the value chain, and that developing the value chain would encourage value addition before exportation.

GREL, a public-private initiative, was the leader in rubber production in Ghana, employing over 4,000 people directly with a target to increase the number to 6,000 in the coming years.

The company exported nearly 100 percent of its processed rubber produce abroad, earning millions of foreign exchange for the country.

Deputy Finance Minister, John Kumah, who received the payment, acknowledged the company’s challenges. He assured GREL management that the government would act on their concerns, while noting that policies were already being formulated to build a strong value chain in the rubber industry.

He also commended GREL for the prompt and regular payments of its dividend.