The Higher West Area has formally set the stage for the 2026 World Share Expo following a high-profile press launch and brand launch on the Wa State Regional Coordinating Council assembly.
The occasion, which introduced collectively authorities officers, conventional leaders and monetary stakeholders, culminated with key coverage bulletins and a major donation of private protecting gear (PPE) to an area ladies’s shea choosing cooperative.
The ceremony started with the Nationwide Cultural Middle welcoming the delegates with conventional music and dance, vividly showcasing the area’s heritage.
Higher West Regional Minister Charles Lwanga Puozyin delivered the welcome handle, stressing the area’s readiness to host the World Expo and harness the financial potential of the Shea worth chain.
“We’re very honored to host this necessary gathering,” mentioned the Regional Minister. “The Higher West Area acknowledges that the shea trade is the cornerstone of our native economic system and is dedicated to supporting the shea worth chain and our hardworking ladies.”
The federal government’s strategic imaginative and prescient for the sector was outlined by Dr. Peter Boama Otoknolu, Head of Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness within the Workplace of the President.
He careworn that the choice of the Higher West area for the launch was a deliberate technique to maneuver funding on to the supply of funding.
“For a lot of ladies in northern Ghana, particularly on this area, shea nuts are greater than only a product; they’re survival, college charges, well being care and hope,” Dr. Otoknolu mentioned.
Through the speech, a second of cultural synergy occurred when Dr. Otoknolu led the gathering in a communal chant and tried to sing a well-liked North Asian tune. The ladies of Bimbu Meiri Basis seamlessly participated, demonstrating the standard shea-making course of and singing the tune to perfection, drawing admiration from these gathered.
Highlighting the troubling financial contradictions throughout the trade, Dr. Otoknolu revealed that though Ghana earns about GHS1.93 billion from shea exports, it nonetheless imports GHS1.86 billion price of shea oil and GHS1.35 billion price of uncooked shea nuts.
“Because of this whereas we produce, different corporations course of and make extra revenue. This imbalance isn’t sustainable and is precisely what we’re decided to vary,” he declared.
To fight this, Dr. Otokunor introduced that the federal government is taking daring coverage measures, together with regularly proscribing the export of uncooked shea nuts, as a way to retain extra of their worth inside Ghana. He added: “The introduction of the 24-hour financial coverage will additional remodel the sector by eradicating time constraints on processing and decreasing post-harvest losses.”
Defending this export promotion, Wa East Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), Dr. Godfred Seidu Jasso, careworn the significance of strict native rules to guard shea bushes from environmental injury.
“Shea bushes are a climate-resilient financial lifeline for northern Ghana,” Dr Jasso mentioned. “Our processing objectives and authorities funding will imply nothing if we don’t diligently shield our uncooked materials sources.”
The dialogue was additional bolstered by GEPA Deputy CEO, Mr. Ambrose Edwin Nsaruko, who elaborated on the Authority’s efforts to facilitate worldwide market entry for native processors. He emphasised that Ghana has a big share within the world shea trade (totaling $6.4 billion).
“We are going to aggressively work in direction of our aim of $10 billion in non-traditional export income by 2030 by imposing the duty to course of at the least 50% of uncooked supplies domestically,” Nsaruko defined.
Eric Vanier, Challenge Director of World Shea Expo, determined to speak in regards to the successes featured in final 12 months’s exhibition.
The expo attracted almost 8,000 contributors from 16 nations in Africa and past. 136 exhibitors got here collectively to show over 716 distinctive shea merchandise within the vibrant Shea Village.
The demographics of contributors mirrored the challenge’s worth of inclusivity: 82% had been ladies, 64% had been younger individuals, and 1.4% had been disabled.
“The occasion convened a variety of stakeholders together with 37 authorities companies, 18 monetary establishments, 94 mission and improvement companions, 8 tutorial and analysis institutes, 6 second cycle colleges, 21 media homes, 8 conventional leaders, 512 micro, small and medium enterprises, and the ever-hardworking ladies’s cooperatives/associations,” he added.
Eric Vanier additional revealed that 10,000 business-to-business collaborations have been facilitated and the Authorities of Ghana has donated 20,000 items of private protecting gear (PPE) to help staff within the shea trade.
Monetary and trade help for this effort was solidified by commitments from key establishments.
Talking on behalf of the personal sector, the Chief Govt Officer of Savannah Golden Tree Restricted, Alhaji Imol Alhassan, highlighted the trade’s throughput and complete nationwide imaginative and prescient, noting that the corporate champions the dedication proven by President John Dramani Mahama in direction of the event of the sector.
Alhaji Imole mentioned, “Having efficiently collaborated with the federal government and stakeholders to host the 2025 World Shea Expo in Tamale, Savannah Golden Tree Restricted is absolutely dedicated to creating the 2026 version an excellent better success.” “We’re able to construct on this momentum, increase alternatives for ladies and youth, and showcase Ghana’s shea trade to the world.”
Alhaji Imole additionally appealed on to the Conventional Council to guard the atmosphere that helps ladies’s livelihoods, asking them to “assist us passionately shield this tree as a treasured useful resource.”
This name to motion was strongly supported by Busa Na, Na Ali Perpuo Hermana, and conveyed a message affirming the necessary function of chiefs within the safety of Sia Parkland.
“Our ladies get up at daybreak and courageous the snake-infested bushes with out correct gear to maintain their communities,” Busa Na lamented. “The Conventional Council is publicly dedicated to imposing ordinances that shield each our treasured shea bushes and the ladies who harvest them.”
With enthusiastic chants of “Kruya, Kruya” echoing all through the venue, the 2026 World Shea Expo brand was formally unveiled, and the occasion reached its climax in a celebratory temper.
Following the formal launch declaration by Dr. Otokunor on behalf of President Mahama, the management collectively introduced specialised PPE to the varied choosing cooperatives.
Gear included top quality Wellington boots, proudly produced in Ghana to stop snake bites, and particular gloves designed to succeed in as much as the shoulders for optimum safety within the bush.
The Bimbu Meiri Basis has acquired the primary batch of kit, together with a particular donation of “Aboboya” (tricycles) to help in transporting the big portions of nuts collected. Organizers assured the viewers that sooner or later they might additionally present tricycles to different organizations that confirmed exhausting work and excessive throughput. Representatives from the Chansa and Weehau shear searching teams adopted and acquired security gear.
Boli Poguna, who gave a speech of thanks on behalf of the Girls Pickers Group, and Hajia Poguna Afisata, who can also be an envoy for the Shea Parks Useful resource Hub Challenge, expressed their deep gratitude to the President and the donors.
“Our ladies are the architects of our prosperity,” declared Hajia Pogna Afisata. “Offering this security gear isn’t just a logical contribution, it’s an act of dignity. Once you shield the harvester, you shield the crop. By including worth to the crop, you remodel our area.”
