ADB earmarks GH¢200m for one-district, one-factory
The Agricultural Development Bank (ADB) Limited has earmarked GH¢200 million to support the government’s flagship industrialisation programme, one-district, one-factory (1D1F), which seeks to build a commercially viable factory in every district across the country.
Subsequently, ADB will set up dedicated desks in selected branches in all regions to receive and scrutinise proposals from companies willing to access the GH¢200 million support fund from the bank.
The Managing Director of ADB, Dr John Kofi Mensah, who disclosed this to a section of the media in Accra on Monday, said the dedicated 1D1F desks would ensure the ease of accessibility and convenience to prospective customers.
Good initiative
“The 1D1F is a very good initiative by the government to transform the economy from service-based to a more industry-focused economy where we can produce enough for both local and the international markets, while creating the much needed jobs across the various sectors,” Dr Mensah said.
He added that the board of directors of the bank took the decision to support the initiative because of ADB’s lead role in supporting many government initiatives in the past; and they were convinced that the latest support would help accelerate the full implementation of the 1D1F programme.
“As an agriculture-focused bank, we believe that supporting producers of raw materials for factories will ensure that the factories run efficiently at full capacity and keep the jobs in the towns and villages, instead of straining the already-stretched urban areas,” Dr Mensah explained.
Read also: 63 Businesses ready to be rolled onto govt’s ‘One-District, One-Factory’ initiative
Development finance
The move by ADB adds to a growing list of banks, development finance institutions, private investors and sovereign countries that have all pledged support to the project that seeks to create a million jobs across the country.
The Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, in his 2018 budget presentation to Parliament, noted that the government had so far identified as many as 191 companies under the programme in 102 districts, with the potential of creating 250,000 jobs when implemented.
The budget, the minister said, had allocated a minimum of GH¢2 million to each district to implement the programme.
The 2018 budget explained that 104 of the companies would be operating in the agribusiness sector; 20 in the meat and poultry sector; 40 in the construction and building materials sub-sector; and the remaining 27 were businesses in the cosmetics and pharmaceuticals sectors.
The government has also emphasised that the 1D1F programme will be a vehicle to revive the country’s ailing manufacturing sector and add value to agriculture.