President John Dramani Mahama says Ghana is charting a bold new path in export growth, with a goal to raise earnings from non-traditional exports to $10 billion a year by 2030, a sharp rise from the current $3.5 billion.

This push will be led by the newly formed Accelerated Export Development Committee (AEDC), made up of 18 members, which is expected to take charge of Ghana’s export agenda. The committee’s creation forms part of a wider effort to increase foreign exchange and drive lasting economic transformation.

At the official inauguration on May 5, 2025, President Mahama stressed that the committee's work will be central to delivering coordinated and effective results. “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.

The President outlined that through the Accelerated Export Development Programme and the broader export strategy, Ghana will focus on processing more of its raw materials and moving beyond commodities. “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,” he remarked.

To support this export shift, President Mahama also pledged to overhaul Ghana’s trading infrastructure. He said logistical hurdles have become a drag on exporters, with the country recording some of the highest costs and longest wait times for export clearance in the subregion. “Ghana’s exporters face some of the highest logistics costs in West Africa, and our export clearance times exceed regional averages,” he said.

Plans to address this include upgrading ports, reviving the Volta Lake Transport Company, developing the Mpakadan Port, activating the Bankra Inland Port, and expanding cold storage facilities to aid sectors like horticulture and fisheries. These measures, the President said, will cut transport challenges, reduce waste, and make exporters—especially those outside urban centres—more competitive.