Factories are not sold in stores; it is built and building takes years - Trade Minister

Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen has explained why government is yet to achieve a significant percentage of its flagship one district, one factory promise.

He said no government can just get up and get factories overnight because in his words, “factories are not sold in shops”, but rather it is built from the grounds up, and building takes a year or two or even three to finish.

He warned Ghanaians not to expect factories’ construction ‘overnight’ across the country as part of the government’s one-district-one-factory programme.

Mr Kyerematen was speaking at the National Policy Summit in Tamale, covered by MyNewsGH.com.

“For us to appreciate, how long it takes for a factory to be established, my brothers and sisters, if you decided to build your house, a house to accommodate yourself, not a factory how long does it take? Sometimes one year, two years, three years,” he said.

He pleaded for the public to be patient with government as there are procedural checklists government must tick.

“Even if you have money and you go to a shop that you want to buy a factory, you will not be able to get the factory to buy from the shop; you will have to first have a document that tells you what kind of equipment and machinery, that alone can take probably another six months, for you to build the factory itself it may take another one, one and half year, so please we need a lot of patience.”

So far, government has received over 700 proposals from investors who want to be part of the programme, he revealed.