The 2026 World Shea Expo, designed to promote investment, value addition and women and youth-led businesses in the shea industry is underway in Tamale.
The three-day event will be held on the theme: “From Local Commodity to Global Brand: Accelerating Women and Youth-led Value Addition in Shea.”
The expo is an initiative of Savannah Golden Tree Limited (SGTL), in partnership with the Presidential Initiatives in Agriculture and Agribusiness (PIAA) and is expected to be graced by the Vice-President, Professor Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang.
Other partners of the event include the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (GEPA), the Ghana EXIM Bank and the Tree Crops Development Authority (TCDA), Ghana Cocoa, Coffee and Sheanut Farmers Association (COCOSHE).
It would bring together various actors and investors in the shea value chain across the world to explore practical measures to attract investment, strengthen value addition and position the sector as a major driver of inclusive economic growth.
Women at the centre
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the expo, the Local Chairman of the World Shea Expo, Professor Abukari Alhassan, called for deliberate efforts to move women beyond participation in shea production to ownership across the value chain.
He said women had historically played a central role in shea collection, processing and trading and possessed invaluable indigenous knowledge and practical experience accumulated over generations.
He said, however, that participation alone was not enough to transform the sector.
“Women must move from participation to ownership. If we are serious about transforming the shea industry, women must be at the centre of that transformation,” he said.
Prof. Alhassan explained that greater ownership would enable women-led enterprises to access appropriate processing technologies, finance, quality assurance, certification, improved packaging, digital marketing and international markets.
Innovation
Prof. Alhassan added that “We must deliberately position shea as a modern, technology-driven and environmentally sustainable industry capable of attracting Africa's brightest young minds”.
He said the future of the shea industry depended on creating value from its resources, while ensuring that the benefits were fairly shared among the people and communities that sustained the sector.
For his part, the Chairman of Savannah Golden Tree Limited, Imoro Issifu Alhassan, said the shea industry had the potential to complement Ghana's cocoa industry and to contribute significantly to the development of the national economy, particularly in northern Ghana.
He said significant attention and investment were needed to unlock the full potential of the sector.
“We will go to Futa in the Nanton Traditional Area, where we are preparing a 20-acre shea plantation for the President to come and help us start.
In fact, it's a 30-acre plantation that we are earmarking,” he said.
Mr Alhassan indicated that the expo would provide an opportunity to showcase the capabilities and potential of the shea industry, as well as initiatives aimed at ensuring that communities, women and the country as a whole derive greater benefits from the sector.
He, therefore, called on investors to commit more resources to the shea industry to sustain the growth of the business and expand the production and marketing of shea products.
