Ghana’s $40 Million Pasta Factory Signals a Shift Toward Local Food Manufacturing

For decades, most of the spaghetti eaten in Ghana arrived from overseas, imported through shipping containers and distributed through wholesale markets across the country.Now that pattern is beginning to change.A $40 million pasta manufacturing facility built by Olam Agri in Accra is positioning Ghana to produce a significant share of its own pasta locally, marking an important step in the country’s broader push toward industrialisation and food processing.A Factory Designed for ScaleThe new plant is designed to produce between 40,000 and 60,000 tonnes of pasta annually, including spaghetti and other dried pasta products commonly consumed across West Africa.At full capacity, the facility could supply about 40 percent of Ghana’s domestic pasta demand, reducing the country’s reliance on imports from Europe, Asia and other global suppliers.The investment is part of Olam Agri’s broader presence in Ghana’s food supply chain. The company already operates one of the country’s largest wheat milling facilities in Tema, producing flour used by bakeries, food manufacturers and distributors across the market.With the addition of pasta manufacturing, that supply chain now extends from grain processing to finished consumer products.Reducing the Import BurdenGhana has historically relied heavily on imported processed foods, particularly products such as pasta, cooking oil, rice and canned goods.Local manufacturing can help reduce the pressure this creates on the country’s foreign exchange reserves, while also shortening supply chains and improving resilience during global disruptions.Food processing investments also generate industrial jobs, logistics activity and supporting services, creating value beyond the factory itself.Policy Changes Reinforcing the ShiftThe timing of the investment coincides with a tightening of Ghana’s import controls.The government recently introduced a directive banning the land transit of several imported products, including pasta and spaghetti, rice, cooking oil, flour and canned tomatoes.Under the new rules, these goods must now enter the country only through seaports, a move aimed at strengthening customs oversight and reducing revenue leakages linked to informal cross-border trade.While imports themselves are not banned, the new policy changes how they enter the country, increasing transparency and enforcement.A Regional Market OpportunityBeyond serving domestic demand, Ghana’s emerging food processing capacity could position the country to supply neighbouring markets under the African Continental Free Trade Area.If production continues to scale, manufacturers operating in Ghana could eventually export processed foods to countries such as Burkina Faso, Togo, Côte d’Ivoire and Mali, where demand for affordable staple foods continues to grow.A Broader Industrial TrendThe pasta factory reflects a wider shift taking place across parts of Africa, where governments are encouraging local value addition in food systems rather than relying entirely on imports.As consumption rises across the continent, the question is increasingly shifting from where food is imported from to where it is manufactured.Ghana’s new pasta facility suggests that, at least for some products, more of that production may soon happen closer to home.