#SoNA2019: 1D1F: 79 factories under construction, operation – Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has disclosed that 79 factories under his flagship One District-One Factory programme are at various stages of construction and operation, two years into his government.

The 1D1F was a campaign promise the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) made to the electorate ahead of the 2016 general elections.

The 1D1F programme, according to the government, seeks to address employment and other economic problems by undertaking a massive industrialisation campaign across the country, which will equip and empower communities to utilise their local resources in manufacturing products that are in high demand, both locally and internationally.

This, the president said, will allow the country to reap the well-known rewards of industrialisation, such as gains in efficiency, increase in agricultural and manufacturing output; a reduction in the reliance on imports and increase in the production of consumer goods and food availability.

Delivering his third state of the nation address in parliament on Thursday, 21 February 2019, Nana Akufo-Addo said: “Mr Speaker, the One District-One Factory policy has taken off and 79 factories under the scheme are at various stages of operation or construction. Another 35 are going through credit appraisal.”

He noted that the scheme has awoken the interest of young people to go into manufacturing businesses.

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.