President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday launched the Sheapark Resource Hub Project in Wa, noting that the launch was a deliberate policy choice, which reflects the government’s determination to reset Ghana’s development trajectory by investing in the people, unlocking regional strengths, and ensuring that no part of the country is left behind in the Reset Agenda.
President Mahama said the Upper West Sheapark Resource Hub is anchored in the powerful idea that national development must grow from the regions outward, not necessarily from the centre alone.
“It is part of a broader regional transformation agenda that aligns fully with our flagship national priorities in the Reset Agenda, the Big Push, and the 24-Hour Economy Initiative,” he said.
The President noted that the shea sector occupies a unique and strategic place in Ghana’s rural economy, particularly in the country’s savannah belts. He said across the Upper West Region and other regions of the north, shea trees are not merely economic assets but part of the cultural identity and ecological heritage.
Mr Mahama reiterated that for generations, women have sustained households and communities through shea picking and processing, and yet, despite Ghana’s position as one of the world’s leading producers of shea nuts, the women who form the backbone of this industry have remained trapped in poverty and at the lowest end of the value chain.
President Mahama thanked the Wa Naa, Alhaji Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo VI, who chaired the function, for declaring that the chopping down of shea nut trees should be made a crime and that assemblies and security agencies should enforce it. He appealed to charcoal makers to avoid selecting shea nut trees when selecting trees for charcoal burning.
President Mahama also took the opportunity to commend and express appreciation to the main drivers of this initiative, the Right Honourable Speaker, Alban Sumana Kingsford Bagbin, and Professor Kwame Addo.
He said the Upper West Sheapark Resource Hub represents a decisive shift from raw extraction to value addition, from informality to enterprise, and from subsistence activity to agro-industrial production.
“This hub is envisioned as a world-class, phased agro-industrial ecosystem designed around sustainability, innovation, and inclusion, and it will bring together modern shea processing facilities for cosmetic production, for food, for nutraceuticals, and for pharmaceutical markets,” he said.
The President said it will also bring together quality control laboratories; training and capacity-building centres; storage, logistics, and warehousing; direct market access; solar-powered energy solutions; water treatment and recycling plants; business incubation; cooperative aggregation; and export facilitation.
He said at full maturity, the Sheapark ecosystem is expected to empower over 7,000 women in the Upper West and support thousands of youth jobs.
President Mahama said the project will anchor value chains not only for shea but also for associated products such as groundnuts, soybeans, sorghum, dawadawa, cotton, and honey.
He said the Sheapark Resource Project is aligned with the centrepiece of the Reset Agenda, which is adding value to products before exporting them.
The President said the Sheapark Resource Hub will operate across shifts, processing, logistics, quality control, packaging, and distribution, creating round-the-clock employment opportunities, especially for young people.
He said the Sheapark Resource Hub is grounded in climate-smart agriculture, sustainable land use, renewable energy integration, waste valorisation and recycling systems, environmental stewardship of the Sheapark lands, and biodiversity.
He said the government has supplied 3,000 Wellington boots and 3,200 gloves to women in the region engaged in the shea industry.
“We know that one of the dangers of shea nut picking is snake bites—snake and scorpion bites. And so these boots will help our women when they go into the bush to pick the shea nuts, so that they can protect themselves against snake and scorpion bites,” he said.
President Mahama said the government is also well advanced in establishing the Women’s Bank, which will support women in business and entrepreneurship.
Distributed by APO Group on behalf of The Presidency, Republic of Ghana.
