63 Businesses ready to be rolled onto govt’s ‘One-District, One-Factory’ initiative
Sixty-three business establishments have expressed their readiness to be rolled onto the government’s ‘One-District, One-Factory’ (1D1F) initiative.
Execution of the business plans by the 63 establishments in 50 districts nationwide is estimated to cost $2 million.
The Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI), Mr Robert Ahomka-Lindsey, who announced this in Accra last Wednesday, said 400 business plans had been submitted to the government for consideration under the 1D1F as of July 21, 2017.
Out of the number, he said, 331 were assessed to be “... actual business plans of substance”.
Mr Ahomka-Lindsey said 178 other viable plans with budgetary requirements of between $500,000 and $2 million for implementation were “bankable’ plans with at least one of them to be situated in every district.”
Event
The deputy minister announced this at an information seminar organised by the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI) on the 1D1F initiative and a $2 billion facility signed between the AGI and the China National Building Materials & Equipment Import and Export Corporation (CNBM).
The seminar was to share with members, information about the initiative and the facility that would be afforded investors.
The event was organised in collaboration with Architectural Engineering Consulting Services in Accra.
Appeal
The President of the AGI, Mr James Asare-Adjei, appealed to the government to make information on the 1D1F initiative readily available for its members.
“The one-district, one-factory policy is a bit scattered; it will be good to package it in a way to have information readily available,” he stated.
Mr Asare-Adjei expressed the hope that the concerns of members would be addressed by policy makers to help transform Ghana’s economy from import-oriented to export-led.
According to him, businesses to be established and developed through the 1D1F policy could be the seed-bed in the country’s industrialisation efforts, and therefore urged all to give their best.
Job creation
The National Coordinator of the 1D1F policy, Mrs Gifty Konadu, said in the first year of its take-off, about 7,000 to 15,000 jobs would be created. This is expected to increase by the year 2020 to between 1.5 million and 3.2 million jobs nationwide.
She said the policy targeted industries in agro-business, garment and textiles, waste management, tourism, arts and craft, and other income-generating sectors.
On the management of the policy, she explained that the secretariat was situated under the Office of the President. The management team includes the Vice-President’s Office and that of the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI).
CNBM
The Chief Executive Officer of the AGI, Mr Seth Twum-Akwaboah, said the CNBM facility would cover 85 per cent of the capital expenditure needed to set up a factory.
He said local businesses would have to use factories built or equipment acquired under the initiative as collateral and also pay 10 to 15 per cent of the total cost of project as commitment.
The Director of Investment and Development of the CNBM, Mr Kent Ma, said China was a big country with a big market and a strong economy that was ready to support the accelerated development of the country.
A past president of the AGI, who is also the Chief Executive Officer of Tropical Cable and Conductor Limited, Mr Tony Oteng Gyasi, called for effective collaboration and partnerships under the 1D1F initiative for maximum benefit.