Written by Moses Mozart Dzawu | From Bloomberg

Ghana plans to double the value of exports excluding cocoa, timber, oil, gold and other minerals over the next four years to help stabilize the cedi, Minister of Trade and Industry Haruna Iddrisu said.

The world’s second-largest cocoa producer is targeting non-traditional exports of $5 billion in 2017 from $2.4 billion last year, he said today at a conference in Accra, the capital.

“The value of our imports has for many years exceeded the value of our exports,” Iddrisu said. “For us to promote a stable currency, we need to be increasing our exports at a pace that matches the growing imports.”

Ghana’s cedi has weakened 29 percent this year against the dollar, the most among 24 African currencies tracked by Bloomberg. The cedi gained 1.6 percent to 3.3850 per dollar by 2:07 p.m. in Accra.

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