Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo has disclosed that the NPP government won't be able to fulfil their much-touted campaign promise one district one factory, 1D1F in its first term.
According to the senior minister, the NPP government will not be fixated on having every factory in all the 216 districts but will push to have a majority of factories in its first four years.
Yaw Osafo-Maafo revealed that 50 companies are expected to begin production under government’s 1D1F programme before the end of 2018.
“So far 15 projects have been approved for implementation under the 1D1F… We expect that by end of this year, 50 of those which have been appraised will be in production,†he said.
Addressing a gathering at the Graphic Business/Stanbic Breakfast Meeting in Accra on Tuesday, 31 July 2018, the Minister said 781 expressions of interest have been received, out of which 632 have been reviewed and 332 are currently being processed for financial support.
The former Minister of Finance said some banks have expressed commitment to provide funding for the projects which “will have to be appraised by the banks because the 1D1F is all in the domain of the private sector, not the governmentâ€.
“What the government has decided is that it will absorb 50 per cent of the interest rates of these 1D1F companies so that determining what is bankable will be done by the professionals. When you have been appraised, shortlisted and you have qualified, the cost of money to you will be shared between the government and yourself,†he added.
The programme is part of President Akufo-Addo’s dream of industrializing Ghana and was flagged during the campaign period in 2016.
President Akufo -Addo at the launching of the Ekumfi Fruits and Juices Limited in the Central Region in August 2017, unequivocally stated that 51 factories will be ready for take-off by the end of 2017.
“…51 districts will start actual implementation of the enterprise by the end of the year [2017], with the potential to generate a minimum of 80, 000 direct and indirect jobs…†he said.
However, this target was woefully missed as the National Coordinator of government’s 1D1F Program, Gifty Ohene Konadu said the target was ignored because they chose to pursue quality rather than quantity.
“…they [Ghanaians] want quality, they don’t just want anything because I promised one district one factory…we have to do something that will last for an appreciable time,â€
The emphasis of the 1D1F programme is on input/raw material producer groups, agro-processing and business; textiles and clothing, ICT, pharmaceutical and cosmetics; waste management, distribution and trading, as well as tourism, arts and crafts.