Mr Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen, the Minister of Trade and Industry, said government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme was only a small proportion of the broader agenda towards Ghana’s industrialisation and diversification efforts.

He said the efforts targeted value-added exports to enable the country move away from the dependence on cocoa and gold towards a future where she could export automobiles and other high value products.

To this end, Mr Kyeremanten said, one strategic sector the Government was targeting was the expansion of the integrated bauxite and aluminium industry as well as iron and steel for value addition.

He said those minerals would serve as raw materials for the automobile companies in Ghana and improve the country’s foreign exchange reserve due to the value addition.

Mr Kyerematen was responding to concerns on job creation raised by participants at the maiden Town Hall Meeting, organised by the Economic Management Team (EMT) in Accra on Wednesday.

He said the industry was at the centre of government’s plans to transform the economy from reliance on resource-based to one driven by value-added exports.

He said the Government had already signed an agreement with some automobile companies, which included Sino Track, Suzuki, Renault, Nissan and Vox Wagon, to set up their manufacturing plants in the country, and that when they became fully established locally, they would serve as job avenues, especially for the youth.

Mr Kerematen gave an assurance that with the current macroeconomic stability achieved by the Government, the country would soon be witnessing job creation and opportunities, where entrepreneurs would be getting lower lending rates to expand their businesses.

The maiden Town Hall Meeting by the EMT, which was on the theme: “Our Progress, Our Status, Our Future,” aimed at updating the nation on the gains made by the current administration two-years into assuming power.

It was chaired by the Vice President, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, and attended by stakeholders from all sectors of the country including politicians, academia, the media and civil society.