Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi says the government cannot force private companies on which districts to site factories under the One District One Factory (1D1F) policy.
Under normal circumstances, the ruling government seeks to equally distribute and site factories in the various districts under the policy but that has not been the case.
Explaining why this dream has not been achieved, Michael Okyere Baafi stated, “Most of the companies under the policy prefer to site their companies in and closer to Accra and Tema which are close to the port. We are now trying to convince investors to spread to other regions and districts but we cannot force them to do so.”
In an interview on the Epa Hoa Daben political talk show with Happy98.9FM’s Don Kwabena Prah revealed the government is not giving any monies to private persons investing in the 1D1F policy, hence the little to no control in determining where the factories are cited.
“This is a private sector led policy and we want to encourage a lot of people to make a lot of money through hard work. As a gov’t we can only encourage them and not force them on where to site their companies. We only tell them the opportunities available in certain areas and hope they can go there and take risks.”
The “One District One Factory” Initiative is a key component of the Industrial Transformation Agenda of the NPP Government. The concept was first introduced by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Presidential Special Initiatives during the past New Patriotic Party (NPP) Administration, as part of an integrated programme for Accelerated Growth and Industrial Development.
The Programme seeks to address the challenge of severe poverty and underdevelopment among rural communities, through the establishment of an institutional framework that will attract private sector investments in rural development activities. It also seeks to promote local participation in economic development, and encourage new community-based public/private partnerships.
The initiative aims to achieve this through a massive private sector-led nationwide industrialization drive, which will equip and empower communities to utilise their local resources in manufacturing products that are in high demand both locally and internationally.
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