A total of 76 factories under the One-District One-Factory (1D1F) initiative are in operation while 107 are currently under construction. This was revealed by the Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia yesterday when he took his turn to address the nation on the current state of the Ghanaian economy.

Overall, a total of 232 projects have been initiated under the 1D1F initiative. The 107 currently under construction include medium-size agro-processing factories which are aimed at adding value to the raw materials being produced among others.

The Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, earlier revealed during the 2020 Mid-year budget that “12 of these companies have received approval for import duty exemptions to the tune of GH¢34million. A total of 154 districts out of the 260 districts are benefiting from the programme”.

In addition, construction of 36 small-scale processing factories out the total 58 projects under the Enable Youth One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative will begin in August this year in 36 districts across the country.

The Government has made commitment that it would build on the successes of the 1D1F in strategic anchoring policies to further enhance agro-processing, including cocoa processing, add value to the raw materials and petro-chemicals, promote labour intensive among others.

The move is expected to enable Ghanaian public sector leverage on the opportunities that would be provided by the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) to enable local businesses expand and have access to regional and continental market.

Background

With regards to IDIF factories currently under construction, completion schedules have largely been affected by the impacts of the Coronavirus pandemic that has seriously disrupted global trade and investment activities.

Meanwhile, efforts have commenced to identify strategic investors to partner Government in its 1D1F Initiative by establishing factories in the districts that lack active business promoters.

Government claims that it has already provided resources to support business promoters to establish 1D1F projects in some districts which failed to attract investment on commercial terms under the programme.