232 out of 260 1D1F factories on track – Trade Minister

The government says 232 out of 260 factories under its flagship 1D1F industrialisation programme are near completion, with some operating at full capacity.

Trade and Industry Minister Alan Keyerematen announced this at the Nation Building Updates held in Accra on Thursday, September 8, 2020, and further disclosed that: “Through the 1D1F government initiative, 76 projects have been completed and are in full operation; 107 projects are under construction; 36 are ready to commence construction, and 13 are in the pipeline to be financed by the Private Finance Initiative (PFI)”.

He was speaking on the theme ‘Industrialising Ghana; One District at a Time’. The Trade and Industry Minister noted that the 1D1F agenda is key to Ghana’s structural transformation. He said it is about time the country moved from an agrarian economy to an industrialised one; and in doing so, the government will provide the necessary support for businesses to achieve this agenda.

The 1D1F is a private sector-led initiative envisioned by President Akufo-Addo to create the necessary conducive environment for businesses to access funding from financial institutions, and other support services from government agencies so as to establish factories and production units in the country’s various districts.

It seeks to change the structure of Ghana’s economy from one that is dependent on import and export of raw material to one focused on manufacturing, value addition and export of processed goods – by processing raw materials found largely in the 275 districts of the country into finished or semi-finished goods.

According to him, 162 of these factories representing 72 percent are new companies, whereas the remaining 64 are existing companies who were rolled onto the programme.

Highlighting the programme’s role toward Ghana’s transformation, Mr. Kyerematen noted that the programme is “here to stay”; and therefore the country must be inward-looking and self-sufficient in certain specific productions by adding value to our natural resource endowments to promote import substitution, and thereby conserve our scarce foreign exchange.

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