President Akufo-Addo with workers of Healthilife Beverages Ltd
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo says his administration is supporting 16 local companies across the country with a stimulus package of GH¢237 million.
The facility would be given to businesses in the areas of pharmaceuticals, oil palm, agro-processing, beverages, textile, and poultry, among others under the government’s National Revitalisation Programme.
President Akufo-Addo announced this when he visited one of the beneficiary companies, Healthy Life Beverages Limited, as part of his tour of the Greater Accra Region.
The President expressed gratitude to the Ghana EXIM Bank, UMB Bank, Prudential Bank, Cal Bank and Ecobank Ghana for supporting the Stimulus Package Programme initiated by Government.
He said the growth in the industrial and manufacturing sector declined significantly over the eight years of his predecessor government and blamed the regime for the high rate of unemployment in the country
A variety of factors including high cost of capital, limited access to medium and long-term financing, high cost of electricity and unreliable power supply, limited access to land for industrial activity; and weak logistics and infrastructure support for industrial development, contributed to the situation, he observed.
President Akufo-Addo said the National Industrial Revitalisation Programme with a Stimulus Package for industries, coupled with other interventions such as the One District One Factory Programme, would support the manufacturing sector to grow and create jobs.
The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, noted that the stimulus package demonstrated the commitment of government to support private sector development in Ghana.
“A major part of what will bring Ghana into the league of countries is not just the 1D1F programme, but the stimulus package for local industries. So, the exercise here this morning is to show one of the beneficiaries of the stimulus package for local industries,” he added.
Mr Alan Kyerematen reiterated the commitment of government to support indigenous companies.
“While it is important to attract foreign investors, it is equally important that we start from our own domestic economy by supporting our local entrepreneurs, and there could be no better demonstration of this than what we are witnessing today,” he said.
The Managing Director of Healthy Life Beverages Company Ltd, Mr Nuamah Fameye, has expressed his gratitude to the President for the support given to the company which, he said, had saved it from collapse.
He said the stimulus package had helped “reduce the burden of high interest commercial loans for indigenous businesses. We are very grateful for your approval and wish to thank you for letting us join this eminent group and to let our business prosper.”
“As you can see, your laudable initiatives especially 1-District-1-Factory (1D1F) and Planting for Food and Jobs are a perfect fit for our ongoing projects.
“We are already off-takers for locally produced oranges, pineapple and mango, and we are going to add coconut water and watermelon. We believe a sure way to making 1D1F a sustainable reality across the country is to partner local businesses like us,” he said.
BY YAW KYEI
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