Today in 2018: Ghana to stop exporting raw materials – Osafo-Maafo

Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, in 2018, declared that his government, the New Patriotic Party, under the leadership of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo are putting drastic measures in place to stop the exportation of raw materials from Ghana to other countries.

In his view, there was no sense in exporting raw materials to other continents to enrich their economies when Ghana can equally benefit from it.

He added that, when the processing of the raw materials are done locally, it would create jobs for Ghanaians which would help eradicate the high unemployment rate in the country.

Read the story orginally published in 2018 by GNA below

Mr. Yaw Osafo Marfo, Senior Minister, has hinted at plans by government to halt the export of raw materials from Ghana to enrich other economies.

“There will be no export of raw materials from this country. Government is determined that we are going to have value addition to our raw materials to create employment for our own people,” he said.

Mr. Marfo said this on Thursday at Batsona during the inauguration of the Tema West Municipal Assembly which was carved out of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly (TMA).

Observing the effects that the exported raw materials has had on Ghana, he said, “We cannot have a situation in which our raw materials are used to create employment for people elsewhere whilst our people live in poverty.”

He said, “We want jobs for our people. The number one problem we have in Ghana today is unemployment, but we always export our raw materials unprocessed for them to process which brings a lot of revenue and create jobs for their people.”

“So government has resolved that it won’t allow the export of these materials without adding value to them here in Ghana”.

He said some countries had such a law, and that the government was currently looking at a draft legislation which would demand that all raw materials in Ghana should be processed before exported.