The government is projecting the creation of over 280,000 jobs with the operationalization of all the 278 factories under the One District One Factory policy.

According to the Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, over 153,000 direct and indirect jobs have been created as a result of the 106 factories currently in operation.

A number of factories over the period have been commissioned under the initiative.

Alan Kyerematen made this known on Wednesday, December 15, 2021, when answering questions on the policy in Parliament.

“The 106 factories that are currently operational have created a total of 153,782 direct and indirect jobs. Mr. Speaker, it is expected that when the additional 148 projects currently under construction are completed, the cumulative number of direct and indirect jobs created will increase to 288,599.”

The policy is one of the flagship programmes by the Akufo-Addo-Bawumia led government.

The President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, had earlier said the initiative has come to stay.

According to him, the initiative holds the key to Ghana’s industrialisation agenda.

President Akufo-Addo insisted that sustaining the policy would lead to numerous job opportunities for the citizenry.

He thus charged Ghanaians to support the initiative to ensure its success.

He explained that the move forms part of the government’s support to improve the country’s private sector.

“The government, as of December 2020, has granted import duty exemptions to 36 companies under the 1D1F programme, amounting to some GH¢435 million. The main sectors that have benefited from the exemptions are agro-processing, ceramics manufacturing, hardware manufacturing, and vehicle assembling plants.”

About the 1D1F programme

The 1D1F is a private sector-led initiative envisioned by President Akufo-Addo to create the necessary conducive environment for businesses to access funding from financial institutions and other support services from government agencies, to establish factories and production units in the various districts of the country.

It seeks to change the structure of Ghana’s economy from one which is dependent on import and export of raw materials to one which is focused on manufacturing, value addition, and export of processed goods by processing raw materials found largely in the 275 districts of the country into finished or semi-finished goods.