Government outlines factory, farm and transport plans for Eastern Region at Koforidua expo

Pinned summary · as of 16:53

The government says the Eastern Region can become a leading base for Ghana's next phase of industrialisation, with new industrial parks, transport links and tourism projects. Goosie Augustus Obuadum Tanoh laid out the plan in Koforidua when he opened Eastern Expo 2026 on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama.

What we know

• Mr Tanoh, who advises the President on the 24-hour economy and export development, declared Eastern Expo 2026 open in Koforidua. The expo runs from 26 September to 3 October.
• He said the Eastern Region is positioned to be a pillar of the country's next industrial push through the 24-hour economy programme, known as 24H+, which aims to move the country from shipping out raw materials to processing and making finished goods.
• Mr Tanoh argued that Ghana has long sold raw commodities and then bought finished products abroad. “For a hundred years, we sold cocoa and bought back chocolate,” he said.
• He said the Volta Economic Corridor covers 75 districts, 10 of them in the Eastern Region, and would connect markets with producing areas that include Asuogyaman, Manya, Fanteakwa, Yilo Krobo, the Kwahu districts and the Afram Plains.
• According to Mr Tanoh, the new railway link to Mpakadan and the Volta Lake Transport System will help carry farm and factory goods, and moving cargo by water could lower freight bills by up to 60 percent.
• Mr Tanoh said three industrial parks are being built in the Kwahu Afram Plains. GB Foods, maker of Gino and Pomo tomato products, is to anchor a food and beverage park and buy locally grown tomatoes, and he said its pilot farms lifted yields from about seven to 20 tonnes per hectare.
• He added that Pitiku and Africa Golden Foods are to anchor two agroecological parks, and that Koforidua has been picked as a possible centre for regional garment making.
• Mr Tanoh said the planned Accra-Kumasi Expressway, with interchanges proposed at Adeiso, Asamankese, Akyem Oda and Ofoase, would reinforce the region's role as a trade and production route.
• He described the 24-hour economy as a drive to remove obstacles to higher output, not merely a matter of factories running at night. Businesses will need dependable and affordable power, efficient supply chains, raw materials, safe transport for night-shift staff, working capital and skilled labour.
• Mr Tanoh gave the government's targets as unemployment below 5% by 2035 and a rise in manufacturing's share of the economy from about 10% towards 20%.
• He said the region is home to over 1.5 million residents of working age who might benefit from factories, industrial parks and tourism businesses, and that a SHOW24 initiative would work with local partners on tourist sites, access roads and services.
• Mr Tanoh said a new land model would let communities that supply land for investment keep ownership while earning rent and dividends from projects built on it. He also stressed that government cannot deliver the change alone and that farmers, producers and entrepreneurs will drive output.

What's disputed / unconfirmed

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  Kumasi Mail reported that Mr Tanoh said yam from the Afram Plains and fish from Asuogyaman could reach Accra more cheaply by water, and that he named tourism draws such as Boti Falls, Umbrella Rock, Aburi Gardens, Kwahu paragliding, the Atewa Range and Bunso Arboretum. Starr FM did not carry these details.
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  Kumasi Mail reported that several ministers, the Eastern Regional Minister and two paramount chiefs attended the launch, with Kwahumanhene Daasebre Akuamoah Agyepong II chairing. This has not been matched in other reports.

Why it matters for Ghana

If the plans are carried out, tomato growers, fishers and yam farmers in the Kwahu and Afram Plains areas would gain new buyers and cheaper routes to Accra. Factory and park jobs could matter to the region's working-age population, which Mr Tanoh put above 1.5 million. The remarks also show which conditions the government itself names as necessary: reliable electricity, transport, finance and skills, along with a land arrangement that returns rent and dividends to landowning communities.