Factory-per-district policy will grow economy – Gratis

Ghana’s economy will grow at a faster rate if more factories are set up across the country to process farm produce, Emmanuel Asiedu, Chief Executive Officer of Gratis Foundation, an agency under the Ministry of Trade, has said.

According to him, about 40 per cent of farm produce in Ghana go waste after they have been harvested by the farmers. He said if there were enough factories to buy, store, and process the produce, it would empower the farmers economically and also strengthen the local economy.

To that end, the one-district-one-factory policy proposed by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is a step in the right direction, Mr Asiedu said.

President-elect Nana Akufo-Addo made a promise to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts across the country ahead of the 7 December 2016 polls. He has re-emphasised his commitment to fulfil that promise.

Speaking in an interview with Nana Aba Anamoah on State of Affairs on GHOne on Tuesday, 3 January, Mr Asiedu said Ghana needed to grow the economy with industrialisation. With that, “the economy will grow, the local currency will be strengthened and jobs will be created”.

He added: “In the agricultural sector, it is possible to set up factories everywhere.”

He further stated that Ghanaians have the capability to produce goods that are patronised locally, therefore, these capabilities must be harnessed. “We have the capability, even if we don’t have it, let us build it,” he emphasised.