Editorial: NTE hits record last year (2025)

Exporters are firmly at the centre of Ghana’s economic transformation agenda as the country’s non-traditional export sector produced a record-breaking year.

The country’s export earnings crossed the US$5billion mark for the first time in history.

This was made known at an Exporters’ Forum organised by the Ghana Shippers’ Authority (GSA) which brought together exporters and key stakeholders within the trade and logistics value chain to examine opportunities, address challenges and chart the way forward.

This remarkable performance recorded in 2025 saw non-traditional export earnings reach an historic US$5.006billion, representing a 30.7 percent increase over the US$3.83billion recorded in 2024.

This achievement ranks among the sector’s strongest performances in recent years and further highlights the growing role of exports in supporting economic growth and foreign exchange generation.

Director of Research-Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA) Martin Akogtri (Ph.D.) praised exporters for their resilience, innovation and commitment, describing them as the driving force behind the sector’s impressive performance.

NTE earnings surpassed the US$5billion threshold for the first time, driven largely by increased value addition, stronger international demand for processed products and expanded access to export markets.

Processed and semi-processed products remained the sector’s backbone, contributing more than 83 percent of total export earnings. Cocoa derivatives – including cocoa butter, cocoa paste and cocoa powder – continued to dominate the export basket, while agricultural products such as cashew nuts, shea nuts, bananas and yams also posted significant gains.

Europe maintained its position as Ghana’s largest export destination, while exports to Africa, North America and Asia continued to record steady growth – reflecting the country’s expanding reach in global markets.

The strong performance also underscores efforts to diversify the export base beyond traditional commodities and strengthening positions within regional and international trade.

Bank of Ghana Governor Dr. Johnson Asiama said the NTE sector contributed about 16 percent of US$31.2billion total export earnings .

Ghana has set an official target of US$10billion for Non-Traditional Exports (NTEs) to be achieved by the year 2030. This goal is part of government’s strategy to expand value-added manufacturing, drive economic diversification and reduce reliance on traditional exports like raw cocoa beans, crude oil and unprocessed gold.

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