President John Dramani Mahama on Saturday launched the Upper West Sheapark Resource Hub Project in Wa, calling it a strategic move to shift Ghana’s development focus outward from the regions rather than the center.

The initiative is part of the government’s Reset Agenda and aligns with key priorities such as the Big Push and the 24-Hour Economy.

President Mahama said the hub represents “a decisive shift from raw extraction to value addition, from informality to enterprise, and from subsistence activity to agro-industrial production.”

Designed as a world-class, phased agro-industrial ecosystem, the Sheapark will feature modern processing facilities for cosmetic, food, nutraceutical, and pharmaceutical shea products.

It will also include laboratories, training centers, warehousing, solar power solutions, and export facilitation infrastructure.

At full capacity, the project is expected to empower over 7,000 women and create thousands of jobs for youth. It will also support value chains for related products including groundnuts, soybeans, sorghum, dawadawa, cotton, and honey.

The shea sector plays a vital role in Ghana’s rural economy, especially across the northern savannah belt.

President Mahama acknowledged that although Ghana is a major shea producer, women in the sector remain marginalized.

“For generations, women have sustained households and communities through shea picking and processing,” he said.

He also endorsed calls by the Wa Naa, Alhaji Fuseini Seidu Pelpuo VI, to criminalize the cutting of shea trees, warning against their use for charcoal burning.

As part of immediate support, the government has supplied 3,000 Wellington boots and 3,200 gloves to women working in the shea industry.

Mahama also announced progress toward establishing a Women’s Bank to provide financing for women-led businesses.