This September, Tamale, the capital of the Northern Area, will host a global gathering set to remodel one among West Africa’s most culturally important and economically promising industries, the shea butter.
From 2–4 September 2025, greater than 8,000 individuals are anticipated to attend the World Shea Expo 2025 — an occasion that blends commerce honest, coverage summit, and cultural showcase.
Beneath the theme “Empowering Girls and Youth-Led SMEs: The Function of Authorities and Monetary Establishments,” the Expo will carry collectively actors throughout the shea worth chain, from rural nut collectors to executives of worldwide manufacturers.
Identified regionally within the Northern enclave as karité or “ladies’s gold,” shea sustains over a million ladies throughout northern Ghana. The worldwide shea market is estimated at greater than US$2 billion, but most Ghanaian producers earn solely a fraction of this wealth, because the nation largely exports uncooked nuts.
In 2023, Ghana exported greater than 70,000 tonnes of shea value US$112.6 million, however processed merchandise fetch as much as ten instances the worth of uncooked nuts.
Authorities’s imaginative and prescient for shea
The federal government has recognized shea as a strategic financial useful resource able to driving rural industrialisation, job creation, and export diversification.
President John Dramani Mahama’s administration has pledged to finish the dominance of uncooked exports by strengthening native processing, branding, and worth addition.
Central to this imaginative and prescient is the revival of the Buipe Shea Manufacturing unit, earmarked to turn into one among West Africa’s largest processing hubs. The initiative aligns with the federal government’s flagship 24-hour financial system coverage, designed to make sure steady manufacturing and commerce.
Officers argue that round the clock processing is not going to solely improve effectivity but additionally create sustainable employment, notably for girls and younger folks within the north.
Financing the transformation
Delivering on this ambition requires sturdy financing, with the Ghana Export-Import Financial institution (GEXIM) anticipated to play a pivotal function. Mandated to spice up commerce competitiveness, GEXIM is positioned to supply credit score services, ensures, import financing, and co-investment partnerships for the shea trade.
The financial institution’s gender-responsive method might be essential, as ladies account for 90 per cent of the shea workforce. Tailor-made credit score schemes, coaching in entrepreneurship, and financing for certification processes are among the many interventions anticipated to assist Ghanaian producers seize a bigger share of worldwide markets.
A defining second
As anticipation builds forward of the September gathering, stakeholders view the Expo as extra than simply an trade honest. It’s seen as a turning level — a possibility to reposition Ghana from a provider of uncooked shea to a world hub for high-value, ethically sourced, and environmentally sustainable merchandise.
For a lot of, the Expo’s promise lies in inclusive development: elevating ladies and youth from subsistence work to entrepreneurship, constructing rural processing industries, and linking Ghanaian manufacturers straight with world markets.
If realised, the World Shea Expo 2025 will mark the start of a brand new chapter for Ghana’s shea sector — one the place prosperity flows again to the communities which have sustained the commerce for generations.
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DISCLAIMER: The Views, Feedback, Opinions, Contributions and Statements made by Readers and Contributors on this platform don’t essentially signify the views or coverage of Multimedia Group Restricted.
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