Ghana sets out $10B investment plan

As part of the push to shift the economy, Africa’s largest gold producer wants to phase out exports of unprocessed minerals by 2030. Ghana aims to invest $10 billion over four years to expand domestic production and reduce its dependence on raw commodity exports, as the West African country seeks to turn its recovery from a debt crisis into employment growth and higher incomes. Presenting the budget, the finance minister told lawmakers “too little value” was added domestically. As part of the push to shift the economy, Africa’s largest gold producer wants to phase out exports of unprocessed minerals by 2030. Much of the skilled employment linked to its mineral wealth currently takes place abroad, the finance ministry says. The government is targeting economic growth of 8% by 2030 and the budget has allocated $2.6 billion to support agriculture, energy, and manufacturing over the next year. Ghana completed an IMF bailout program this year and now plans to repay about $3 billion in domestic and international debt ahead of schedule.