Invest in cocoa, shea processing to create jobs for Ghanaian youth – Veep to Chinese investors

Vice-President Professor Jane Naana Opoku-Agyemang has urged Chinese investors to establish industries in Ghana to create jobs for the country’s growing youthful population.

She identified cocoa and shea processing as key investment opportunities that could help Ghana move away from exporting raw materials and increase local production.

The Vice-President cautioned that training young people without creating industries to employ them could worsen unemployment and frustrate the country’s youth.

“If it's the same thing they've been doing, then training so many people simply means that you are training them towards unemployment,” she said.

Professor Opoku-Agyemang made the remarks during an engagement with Chinese stakeholders in Shanghai, China, where she called for stronger economic cooperation between the two countries.

She said Ghana is training young people through technical schools and universities to develop the skills needed to process raw materials into finished and semi-finished products.

According to her, industrial investment must complement skills development to ensure that trained workers have opportunities to apply their knowledge and contribute to the economy.

The Vice-President identified shea processing as an area with significant investment potential, highlighting opportunities across the value chain, from collecting nuts to processing and exporting finished products.

“We have shea butter and all the processes that go into them—that is one area somebody can invest in very, very easily,” she said.

She also urged investors to explore the production of chocolate and other cocoa derivatives, including cocoa wine, as part of efforts to diversify Ghana’s cocoa industry.

Beyond job creation, she said local processing would help Ghana retain more value from its natural resources and diversify employment opportunities.

The Vice-President was in China to participate in the Global South Academic Forum in Shanghai, which brought together stakeholders to discuss governance, development and cooperation among countries of the Global South.