𝗩𝗜𝗖𝗘 𝗣𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗡𝗧, 𝗡𝗢𝗥𝗧𝗛𝗘𝗥𝗡 𝗥𝗘𝗚𝗜𝗢𝗡𝗔𝗟 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗣𝗨𝗦𝗛 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗙𝗢𝗥𝗠𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗢𝗙 𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗔 𝗜𝗡𝗗𝗨𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗬 𝗜𝗡𝗧𝗢 𝗚𝗟𝗢𝗕𝗔𝗟 𝗕𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗗

She said the shea sector presented significant opportunities for economic transformation, particularly for women and young people in northern Ghana, and urged stakeholders to intensify investments in processing, technology, innovation, branding, market access and sustainable production.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang made the call when she delivered the keynote address at the 3rd Edition of the World Shea Expo, held at the Modern City Hotel in Tamale on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.

The Expo is being held under the theme: “From Local Commodity to Global Brand: Accelerating Women and Youth-Led Value Addition in Shea.” It has brought together policymakers, traditional leaders, MMDCEs, producers, women’s groups, youth entrepreneurs, investors, development partners, researchers, international buyers and other stakeholders in the shea value chain.

The Vice President said Ghana could no longer afford to focus predominantly on the export of raw shea resources when substantial economic opportunities existed in processing, product development, packaging, certification, branding and international marketing.

She emphasised the need to retain a greater proportion of the value generated from Ghana’s shea resources within the country and ensure that the communities and people who had sustained the industry benefited meaningfully from its growth.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang also highlighted the important role of women in the shea value chain, particularly in the collection, processing and trading of shea, and called for increased access to finance, modern technology, skills development and markets to strengthen their businesses.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang also announced the Government’s commitment to the establishment of a Women’s Bank to provide dedicated financial support to women entrepreneurs and businesses. She said the initiative was intended to improve women’s access to affordable and sustainable financing, enabling them to expand their businesses, invest in value addition and participate more effectively in sectors such as shea, agriculture, manufacturing and other areas of the economy. She noted that improved access to finance would be critical to empowering women to move from small-scale activities into commercially viable and competitive enterprises.

She further underscored the need to create opportunities for young people to participate actively in the industry through innovation, research, technology, digital marketing, manufacturing and entrepreneurship.

The Vice President’s participation in the Expo, according to stakeholders, demonstrated the importance attached to the shea sector and efforts to position it as an important component of Ghana’s agricultural and industrial transformation agenda.

Ahead of the opening ceremony, the Vice President participated in a symbolic shea tree planting activity at Futa in the Northern Region, where a demonstration farm has been established to promote the cultivation of grafted shea seedlings.

The initiative is aimed at encouraging the deliberate cultivation and regeneration of shea trees, with grafted seedlings capable of producing earlier than traditionally grown shea trees. The activity was also intended to draw attention to the need to protect Ghana’s shea parklands for future generations.

In his welcome remarks, the Northern Regional Minister, Hon. Adolf Ali John, said the region was proud to host the World Shea Expo because it was at the heart of Ghana’s shea-producing belt and had generations of women whose livelihoods were closely linked to the commodity.

He welcomed the Vice President and other distinguished guests to Tamale on behalf of the chiefs and people of the Northern Region, saying the Vice President’s presence demonstrated the importance government attached to the shea industry and the economic empowerment of women and young people.

Hon. Ali Adolf John said the Vice President’s presence also sent a strong message to shea-producing communities that their work, enterprise and contribution to Ghana’s economy were recognised at the highest level of government.

He noted that women in the region had traditionally played a central role in collecting shea nuts, processing them into butter and other products, while increasingly participating in aggregation, marketing and export activities.

The Minister, however, observed that despite the enormous economic potential of shea, much more remained to be done to enable producers and processors to capture a greater share of the value created along the value chain.

He therefore called for a decisive shift from the export of largely raw commodities towards value addition, processing, product development, branding and access to international markets.

Hon. Adolf said the theme of the Expo spoke directly to the development aspirations of Northern Ghana, stressing that the shea sector could become a major source of decent employment for the youth if they were deliberately connected to finance, skills, technology, markets and business development services.

He urged stakeholders to create space for women and young people to introduce innovation, technology, digital marketing, modern packaging, research and entrepreneurship into the shea industry.

The Minister also called for stronger collaboration among government institutions, private-sector actors, financial institutions, development partners, researchers and industry players to unlock investment and expand opportunities throughout the shea value chain.

He expressed the hope that the discussions and engagements at the Expo would lead to practical interventions that would create jobs, increase incomes, attract investment and strengthen Ghana’s position in the global shea market.

Hon. Adolf commended the organisers, sponsors, development partners and other stakeholders for their commitment to making the World Shea Expo a growing platform for the development of the shea industry.

He said the Expo provided an important opportunity for Ghana to move beyond viewing shea as a traditional commodity and instead promote it as a source of locally manufactured, value-added and internationally competitive products.

He expressed confidence that the outcome of the three-day Expo would contribute to building a stronger, more inclusive and sustainable shea industry, while improving the livelihoods of producers and creating expanded economic opportunities for women and young people across the country.