Ghana’s Minister for Trade, Agriculture and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, on Thursday outlined the country’s strategy to empower women, youth, and small businesses as engines of industrial growth and continental trade integration during the second day of the 2026 Africa Prosperity Dialogues in Accra.
Speaking at the event, hosted under the theme “Empower SMEs, Women and Youth in Africa’s Single Market: Innovate, Collaborate, Trade,” Ofosu-Adjare highlighted Ghana’s leadership in translating the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agenda into tangible action.
“Ghana has embarked on an ambitious path to strengthen value addition, drive industrial growth, and expand export capacity, with women’s empowerment integrated across all pillars,” she said. The minister underscored Ghana’s efforts to build inclusive trade frameworks, noting the adoption of the AfCFTA Protocol on Women and Youth in Trade, a binding commitment to remove structural barriers and expand access to finance, skills, digital trade, and value chains across the continent.
Ofosu-Adjare detailed how Ghana’s industrial policy and trade interventions are deliberately focused on micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), which account for over 90 percent of businesses and the majority of employment in Africa. “Women make nearly half of MSMEs in Ghana, and African youth represent an unparalleled source of innovation and productivity,” she said.
She highlighted targeted initiatives including the Feed the Industry programme, aimed at ensuring sustainable access to quality inputs for industries and agribusiness, boosting domestic processing, and reducing reliance on raw exports. These interventions are complemented by nationwide enterprise development programmes, which have equipped over 155,000 entrepreneurs with skills, provided start-up kits to more than 6,000 women-led enterprises, and strengthened financing mechanisms under the Ghana Economic Transformation Project supported by the World Bank.
More Read
The minister stressed that these measures are aligned with the Global Value Chain Development Report 2025, which emphasizes Africa’s integration into technology-intensive supply chains and leveraging natural resources for sustainable industrialisation. She cited rural communities, including Koko, Sheerla, Kashi, and Ani, as areas with untapped economic potential.
Digitalisation and innovation were central to her address. “Investing in digital skills, inclusive innovation, and regional value chains ensures women remain central to Africa’s trade and industrial transformation,” she said. Ofosu-Adjare highlighted AI and digital tools as key to enabling value addition and enhancing export readiness across agribusiness and industrial sectors.
The minister also called for investments in infrastructure, including energy, transport, digital systems, and cross-border trade corridors, while urging innovative financing solutions to unlock capital for women and youth-led enterprises. She emphasized the importance of public-private and regional partnerships to scale African industrial value chains and overcome persistent challenges such as financing gaps, skills mismatches, and infrastructure deficits.
More Read
“Our goal is to build a single African market where SMEs, women, and youth thrive in sustainable prosperity, job creation, and infrastructure transformation,” Ofosu-Adjare said. She called on governments, private investors, and international partners to make concrete commitments, including investing in women and youth-led SMEs, supporting value addition in agribusiness, removing barriers to infrastructure upgrades, and fostering cross-border collaboration under the AfCFTA framework.
The minister concluded by reaffirming Ghana’s commitment to inclusive growth and regional economic integration. “Together, we will build a continent where innovation, industrialisation, and shared prosperity define Africa’s future,” she said.
The Africa Prosperity Dialogues in Accra brought together policymakers, business leaders, and representatives of continental organisations to discuss strategies for SME growth, gender and youth inclusion, and trade expansion across Africa’s integrated markets.
