Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen says close to two hundred projects in 100 districts are currently ongoing across the country under the One District-One factory (1D1F) initiative.
Mr. Kyerematen says more is expected to be rolled out when the Finance Minister presents the budget statement next week.
Speaking to Citi News ahead of Ken Ofori Atta’s presentation, Alan Kyeremeten said the 1D1F programme is on course.
“As I speak to you now, we have 181 projects at different stages of implementation covering 110 districts. It means that in some districts, we have more than one project that is being implemented. That leaves us with another one hundred and fifty districts that will be covered in the next financial year. Hopefully, we should be able to have some government direct intervention in these 150 districts but this is probably the most ambitious industrial transformation programme since independence,” he said.
Mr. Kyerematen also stated that the government is considering decentralising development to encourage 1D1F in the various districts across the country.
“If development is based only in bigger cities, other parts of the country will lack economic benefits, thus the need to regionalize development to ensure great benefits,” he said.
The One District, One Factory initiative, according to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, is a policy set to ignite Ghana’s industrialization and set it on course for socio-economic development.
It is aimed at establishing at least one factory or enterprise in each of the 216 districts in Ghana as a means of creating economic growth poles that will accelerate the development of these areas and create jobs for the youth.
Though it is one of the government policies established that resonated so well with the Ghanaian populace, many have questioned how the policy was going to be successfully implemented.