Our industrialisation programme is on course - President Akufo-Addo

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on Thursday said the government is aggressively pursuing its plans for industrialisation transformation in fulfilment of its commitment to the people.

He explained that the Business Development Ministry, for instance, was working hard and bringing out entrepreneurial skills and encouraging young people to spot business opportunities.

“We are paying greater attention to making Ghana an easy place to do business and set up industries,” President Akufo-Addo stated in his fourth State of the Nation Address to Parliament in Accra.

The Industrialisation flagship project anchored on the ‘One District, One Factory’ (1D1F) was also progressing and beginning to show dividends.

A total of 181 projects, spread across the 112 districts, were currently at various stages of implementation under the 1D1F project, the President stated.

Fifty eight companies were already in operation, with 26 projects, under construction, he said.

Additionally, 58 AFDB small-scale projects were ready for sod cutting in the early part of the year, with another 26 pipeline projects being ready to commence implementation by the first quarter of the year.

President Akufo-Addo said in January, Exim Bank, signed a 100 million dollar facility credit with Suisse to help complete 20 of the export-related factories.

“It is envisaged that the 1D1F initiative will generate a total of 228,866 direct and indirect jobs,” he explained.

Under the 1D1F project, existing struggling businesses were also being revived and expanded.

“There is nothing contrary to the philosophy that underpins 1D1F if an already existing enterprise is helped to expand to employ more people,” he explained .

The President announced that 37 Business resource centres had been built to help the country to unearth some “exciting young entrepreneurs”.

These Business Centres are one stop enterprise that would provide a full range of business development services (BRCs), investment facilitation and information services to entrepreneurs and business enterprise at the district levels.

Some of these business centres would be located in Kadjebi in the Oti Region, and Kumasi Effiduase Asokore, in the Ashanti Region, he hinted.

President Akufo-Addo said the BRCs were being equipped with modern Information technologies and network through a virtual private network to facilitate efficient delivery of the operations.

“We have built 37 and we are building 13 more”.

He said the young people who were participating in the Presidential Pitch Programme, for example, could benefit from the BRCs, the national Entrepreneurship and Innovations plan, “and take on the world”.