The Minister of Information Designate, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says the role of government under the One-District-One-Factory, (1D1F) project is to create enabling environment, provide facilitation of machinery, facilitation of access to market, and access to liquidity.
The Minister said eighteen (18) factories have been accredited and signed up to incentives provided by government under the 1D1F project.
Explaining in an unterview with Radio Ghana’s Ibrahim Kwarteng on GBC’s Current Affairs Programme “BEHIND THE NEWS” what the government meant by the accreditation of factories in relation to the 1D1F project, the Minister said the eighteen (18) factories which are at various parts of the country, have been provided with incentives to stimulate their work.
Adding that some have been completed and have began work, others have also completed their construction but in the process of recruiting members to start work, whilst some are still under construction.
Mr. Nkrumah said government has being engaged in this act with the owners of the 18 factories who have signed up and 50 more have been projected to complete their assessment and sign up by the end of this year.
“We focus on the accreditation because we do not want to be in the business of counting people who set up their own business but are not tapping into the benefits we are creating, but we are looking at those who are coming on because of the incentives we are offering” The Minister explained.
He said existing challenges with the private sector businesses in Ghana is that, sometimes individuals want to own hundred percent of the business and business owners finding partners to move the business forward.
He added that access to electricity to avoid “dumsor” to the factories has been improved.
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said contrary to what people have said, it is not the intention of government to build the factories at the southern parts of the country although the earlier ones are located at the lower belt of the country.
He added that some of the factories are positioned at other parts of the country but that government will quicken the efforts of the accreditation so that more of the factories will be working at other parts of the country.
He said the manifesto commitment by the New Patriotic Party (NPP) is to facilitate the private sector effort to set up factories operating in every district.
It may be recalled that Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah in a news conference on October 9, 2018, disclosed that, 18 factories under the One-District-One-Factory, (1D1F), initiative are ready to take off and 50 more are expected to receive approval by the end of the year.
The 1D1F project was a major campaign promise of government to deliver the factories in collaboration with the private sector.
