The Upper West Region has set a clear course for socio-economic transformation with the launch of the Sheapark Resource Hub, a development blueprint anchored on the shea value chain and allied sectors.

The Hub provides a framework for unlocking the region’s economic potential through value addition, industrialisation, and inclusive growth.

The initiative, titled “Revealing Potential Pathways for Socio-economic Development (2025 and beyond)”, was championed by the Speaker of Parliament, Mr Alban S. K. Bagbin, with government support and in partnership with the private sector.

Launching the project in Wa at the weekend, President John Dramani Mahama said the Hub aligns with government’s determination to reset Ghana’s development trajectory by investing in regional development potentials.

He said the Sheapark Resource Hub is built on the principle that national development must grow from the regions outward, adding that it fits within the broader regional transformation vision and aligns with the national reset agenda, the Big Push, and the 24-hour Economy initiative.

President Mahama described the shea sector as a strategic economic and cultural asset in the savannah belt, sustained largely by women, but long characterised by low returns due to limited value addition.

He noted that the Hub would establish modern processing facilities to transform shea into finished products such as cosmetics, food and pharmaceutical items. Facilities would include quality control laboratories, training and capacity-building centres, warehouses, logistics systems, renewable energy infrastructure and export facilitation structures.

The project is expected to empower more than 7,000 women and create thousands of jobs for the youth, while supporting related value chains including groundnuts, soya beans, sorghum, dawadawa, cotton and honey.

President Mahama also announced that government had supplied protective equipment, comprising 3,000 wellington boots and 3,200 gloves, to women shea nut pickers to protect them from reptiles and other creeping animals.

He further stated that the Women’s Development Bank would provide credit to women cooperatives in the shea industry to support sheanut harvesting, transportation and other cooperative activities.

Mr Bagbin explained that the Sheapark Resource Hub emerged from extensive work by consultant Professor Kwame Addo and other stakeholders to identify practical pathways for the region’s socio-economic development.

He said the initiative is backed by strong partnerships, including the Ghana–South Africa Business Chamber, whose President, Mr Grant Weber, has expressed readiness to begin business engagements following the launch.

The Speaker urged stakeholders, especially landowners and traditional authorities, to avoid disputes that could delay implementation and to work together to ensure the success of the intervention.