12/10/2025
🇬🇭 Ghana outlines six-region
To be Africa’s leading producer of natural tropical and functional beverages
The Ghanaian government has unveiled a bold six-region industrialisation strategy aimed at positioning the country as Africa’s hub for tropical beverages and functional wellness drinks.
The programme could generate more than US$900 million in annual output by 2029.
The 6-Region Tropical Beverages & Functional Drinks Industrialisation Plan (2025–2030) seeks to harness Ghana’s rich agro-ecological diversity to develop globally competitive processing hubs for natural fruit juices, coconut water, ready-to-drink teas, herbal infusions, fermented probiotic beverages, and other functional wellness drinks.
The initiative draws inspiration from the operational models of Ekumfi Fruits & Juices and Central Citrus Ltd.
Under the plan, six industrial hubs will be established across major crop belts to convert pineapples, citrus, coconut, mango, passion fruit, hibiscus, ginger, moringa, baobab, and other botanicals into high-margin, export-ready products.
Each hub will operate at a processing capacity of 25 tonnes per hour and will feature UHT, tetra, PET, and canning lines supported by research and development units, running 24 hours a day.
Government projections indicate that the hubs could generate between US$900 million and US$1.2 billion in annual industrial output by 2029, with cumulative revenue from 2025 to 2030 estimated at US$2.7 billion to US$3.5 billion.
The plan is expected to create between 36,000 and 54,000 direct and indirect jobs spanning farming, processing, logistics, packaging, and distribution.
The new hubs could replace 30 to 60 percent of these imports within three years. Each hub will focus on products suited to the region’s agro-ecological strengths.
For instance:
● The Ashanti Region will produce ready-to-drink hibiscus teas, moringa drinks, and herbal wellness beverages.
● The Western Region will specialise in coconut water and tropical hydration drinks
● The Volta Region will process citrus juices and ginger-based functional blends.
● The Eastern Region will focus on NFC pineapple juice, mango-passion blends, and breakfast juices.
● In Bono, the focus will be on mango-fibre drinks, citrus blends, and cashew apple beverages,
● The Northern Regions will handle baobab, hibiscus, and tamarind probiotic and fermented wellness drinks. The initiative is also expected to reduce post-harvest losses, currently estimated at 15 to 30 percent, by localising processing near raw material sources.
The program will roll out in four phases. The 2025 Foundation Phase will cover site selection, crop zoning, outgrower recruitment, and engineering design.
From 2026 to 2027, construction and expansion will see the building of the six plants, the establishment of R&D laboratories, and the expansion of crop farms by 5,000 to 15,000 acres per region.
Between 2027 and 2029, the Scale-Up Phase will expand operations from one shift to three, introduce value-added product lines, and launch regional export channels. Finally, the 2030 Consolidation Phase will secure global certifications and position Ghana as a continental leader in natural and functional beverage exports.
Note 📝: Ghana currently imports hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of processed fruit juices and sugary drinks annually.