Private sector can leverage on ‘One district, one factory’
A Former Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC), Mr Robert Ahomka- Lindsay, has said the industrialisation agenda by the new government presents enormous investments opportunities for the private sector.
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Under its ‘one district, one factory’ concept, the new government intends to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts in the country, which he explained would give businesses the opportunity to add value and create employment for people.
Speaking at an investment seminar by Norfund, an equity investment company seeking to invest in Ghana, Mr Ahomka- Lindsay said, “One important opportunity is the concept of one district, one factory. These districts are going to be run by the private sector and not government, and that can conservatively offer about 200 business opportunities.”
He said value addition was one area that was affecting the industrialisation agenda in Ghana, and the private sector must, therefore, look at that area.
“We import even onions and yet we have post-harvest losses of 30 to 40 per cent because whatever we grow sits there and rots. These are manageable challenges and this is where again there is the opportunity of adding value. We can look at adding value at the level of every district; be it cashew, be it tomatoes, be it peanuts, shea butter and the list goes on,” he said.
The campaign promise
The New Patriotic Party’s (NPP), in its manifesto for the 2016 elections, promised to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts in the country. This is expected to create a number of jobs for the youth and transform the country’s economy.
Although it is unclear when all the factories will be rolled out, the Trade Minister, Mr Alan Kyerematen, said a number of them would be established within the next six months.
A technical support group is expected to be established at the Ministry of Trade and Industry to work with the district assemblies to help identify strategic economic projects to be looked at.
Creating the business environment
According to Mr Ahomka-Lindsay, government must create the right environment for businesses to operate and thrive, instead of competing in the business space.
The role of government, he explained, was not to do business but rather to create the right environment for the private sector to do what it does best.
“Government is not a business person. Its role is to create the right environment and get out of the way. We have some good entrepreneurs here, government must get out of the way and provide the environment and allow the private sector to do what it does best,” he stated.
Norfund in Ghana
Norfund – the Norwegian investment fund for developing countries – will open an office in Ghana to serve the West African sub-region.
The office is expected to focus on investing in the food and agribusiness value chain.
The CEO of Norfund, Mr Kjell Roland, explained: “We will get people to look at agriculture together with some local partners. We will be looking at processing in the downstream value chain. We are not doing primary agriculture, we are going to help build up the value chain for the benefit of consumers.”
He explained that agriculture was very fundamental to economic transformation and a major source of employment in most developing countries, hence it being one of Norfund’s priorities.
The company, he said, was looking at getting partners that were ready to work in areas that it was ready to invest in.
“We have invested about US$22 million already and we expect that to grow over the last three years. We will continue investing in SMEs, energy and the financial sector. The office we are setting up here will focus primarily on food and agriculture,” he said.