By Godwill Arthur-Mensah/Elsie Appiah-Osei
Accra, June 26, GNA – Mr Kwabena Okyere-Darko Mensah, Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi, has called on the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government to consider sustaining the “One District, One Factory” (1D1F) initiative to help address youth unemployment.
Speaking in a media interview at Parliament House in Accra on Friday, Mr Okyere-Darko Mensah expressed concern that the government’s flagship “24-Hour Economy” policy, which promotes a “three shifts, one job” system, had not generated the expected employment opportunities.
He noted that adopting the 1D1F policy would not be misplaced, as the programme had previously created more than 160,000 jobs, with about 169 factories reported to be operational.
Mr Okyere-Darko Mensah recalled that the previous administration had planned to grant tax waivers to support the establishment of 47 additional factories under the initiative, but the then-opposition NDC opposed the move.
“Now, the three Shifts, One Job policy has become a taboo and people are clamouring for jobs, so the government can adopt the 1D1F policy since it created jobs,” he pointed out.
The 1D1F initiative was introduced in 2017 by the New Patriotic Party government as part of its industrialisation drive. The policy aimed to establish at least one factory in each district to boost local production, generate employment, and reduce dependence on imports.
By 2020, the programme had facilitated the establishment of factories across sectors such as agro-processing, textiles, and pharmaceuticals, with several projects benefiting from tax incentives and credit support.
Civil society organisations and business groups credited the initiative with stimulating rural economies and helping to curb rural-urban migration.
However, some critics raised concerns about the sustainability of the programme, its financing structure, and the uneven distribution of factories across districts.
The current NDC government has prioritised the 24-Hour Economy policy, which seeks to increase productivity through continuous operations in key sectors of the economy.
Mr Okyere-Darko Mensah’s appeal highlights the ongoing debate on whether the government should revisit the 1D1F initiative to complement its economic strategy and respond to rising unemployment concerns.
GNA
Edited by Lydia Kukua Asamoah
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Reporters: Godwill Arthur-Mensah