Thomas Nyarko Ampem, the Deputy Minister of Finance, has called on investors and development partners to commit long-term capital towards transforming Ghana’s rice sector into a major driver of economic growth, food security and industrialisation.

He said Ghana was repositioning agriculture, particularly strategic value chains such as rice, as a central pillar of economic transformation.

The Deputy Minister was speaking at the 2026 West Africa Rice Investment Roundtable in Accra on Tuesday.

The high-level forum brought together representatives from governments across the sub-region, the private sector, development finance institutions, investors and regional bodies including ECOWAS to discuss ways of improving the sector to drive investment.

Speaking on behalf of Dr Cassiel Ato Forson, the Finance Minister, Mr Nyarko Ampem said Ghana was creating the right policy and macroeconomic environment to attract investment into the rice value chain.

“Ghana’s message to investors is straightforward: We are doing the policy work, we are strengthening the enabling environment, and we are creating the conditions for long-term capital to thrive,” he said.

Mr Nyarko Ampem said the government was focused on reducing import dependence while expanding domestic production, agro-processing and value addition within the rice sector.

Despite West Africa’s enormous agricultural potential, the region continued to spend between US$3 billion and US$4 billion annually importing rice, a situation he described as economically unsustainable.

“West Africa continues to spend about US$3-4 billion annually importing rice. That is billions in foreign exchange leaving our economies each year to finance demand we should increasingly be meeting ourselves,” he added.

Mr Nyarko Ampem argued that the challenge the region faced was not the lack of land, water resources or farmers, but rather insufficient investment capable of transforming rice production at scale.

The region required “transformational capital, long-term financing that goes beyond seasonal farming support to include investments in irrigation systems, storage facilities, logistics, milling and agro-processing infrastructure,” he noted.

The Deputy Minister said Ghana’s economic reset agenda under President John Dramani Mahama placed strong emphasis on productive transformation, food security and private sector-led growth.

He said government interventions were currently focused on strengthening agricultural value chains, improving market coordination, supporting price stability mechanisms and creating a predictable investment climate for businesses.

Improving macroeconomic stability and renewed investor confidence were also contributing to Ghana’s efforts to attract long-term investment into critical sectors of the economy.

Mr Nyarko Ampem urged stakeholders within the sub-region to move beyond discussions and begin mobilising practical financing arrangements capable of driving large-scale rice production.

“West Africa does not need more declarations. We need to create pipelines of bankable projects capable of crowding in long-term capital at scale,” he said.

He expressed optimism that the Roundtable would help generate strategic partnerships and investment commitments to strengthen regional food systems and reduce dependence on imported rice.