Chamber of Commerce rallies support for ‘one district, one factory’ initiative

The President of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce,Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso, has lauded government's industrial policy initiative of ‘One District One Factory, which seeks to stimulate industrialization and ensure spatial spread of industries across the country.

Government through the Ministry of Trade and Industry is said to have released about GHS465 million to kick-start the project, which is expected to commence in the fourth quarter of 2017.

This, Nana Appiagyei Dankawoso said local entrepreneurs and captains of industries should position themselves to take advantage, of the government's effort to reinvigorate the industrial sector.

However, he noted that there was the need for a holistic approach to the implementation of the industrial policy initiative; by among others addressing the lapses that hindered the implementation of similar projects in the past.

He said with its proper implementation, some of the districts might have more than one factory established, considering the abundance of natural resources across the country. But he noted that industries must strive to utilize the natural resources that the country is endowed, without which it becomes useless.

He therefore charged local businesses to take value addition very important, particularly as the private sector has been called upon to lead the way to turn around the fortunes of the economy through employment creation among others.

If your exports are done in raw state and you don't add any value, your prices will always be determined by your buyers because you don't have control over it, since you are selling in raw state.

So why don't we find a way to adding value to our raw materials and exports in order to earn more, he stated.

Earlier, thePresident of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce, lamented the Ghanaian attitude to time saying that it drives away investors, while also being a huge setback to business growth.

He said if local businesses want to succeed, and woo more investors to partner to undertake business ventures, it is important that they respect time.

He made these remarks at while addressing ‘breakfast business gathering organized by the Kumasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), for CEOs in the Ashanti region.

The event was organized on the theme 'Positioning Ashanti Region to take Advantage of the One-District-One Factory Policy Initiative'.

The chairman of KCCI, Mr. Yaw BoakyeYiadom, the Kumasi Chamber of Commerce and Industry is the firm conviction that this policy is laudable and worthy of pursuit for sustained economic growth and social improvement of the Region and the country.

However, he said the business community has a number of critical questions that need urgent answers and adequate information for decision making.

He added that other stakeholders also want the opportunity to make inputs and participate in the initiative with the view to ensuring its successful implementation.

It was against this background that the event was held to bring together policy makers, industry practitioners, and other relevant stakeholders to identify the resources available in the Region for entrepreneurs to tap into.

Mr. BoakyeYiadom said it was their expectation that the business community will come to understand and take advantage of this policy to transform the Region into and industrial hub.