79 1D1F projects to be okayed by end of year - Trade Minister

By the end of 2018, a total of seventy-nine (79) projects will have been approved under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative, Trade Minister Alan Kyeremanten has told Parliament.

According to the minister, these projects are currently in various stages of implementation at selected districts in various regions: including 13 in Ashanti, 22 Greater in Accra, 13 in Brong Ahafo, 8 in Central Region and 14 in the Eastern Region.

Others are: 1 each in the Western, Volta and Upper West Regions, and 6 in the Northern Region. The Upper East Region is yet to benefit, but the minister maintained that plans are in place to help investors set up there.

“Some of these 79 projects have commenced operations, others are under construction, while others have received approval from the Participating Financial Institutions and are ready to commence implementation. In addition to these projects, 22 flagship large-scale projects are to be financed under the MOTI-China National Building Materials (CNBM) US$400million facility,” he told Parliament on Wednesday when he appeared before the House to answer questions relating to his ministry.

Another set of thirty-five (35) projects are going through further critical credit appraisal by the ministry’s technical team and the Participating Financial Institutions, to ensure that these projects receive financial support to ensure smooth implementation.

The companies are supposed to have not less than 80 percent local ownership in sectors like agro-processing, manufacturing, livestock, beverage production and wood processing.

The One District, One Factory Programme was instituted by President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to address the challenge of slow economic growth at the district level, through a massive nationwide industrialisation drive that will equip and empower communities to utilise their local resources for manufacturing products which are in high demand – both locally and internationally.

The programme is expected to facilitate the creation of between 7,000 to 15,000 jobs per district, and between 1.5 million and 3.2 million nationwide by end of 2020.