By Laudia Sawer
Tema, Oct. 05, GNA – A total of 296 companies have so far been captured under the government’s flagship programme, One District One Factory (1D1F) as of September 2022, Mr Kofi Addo, Lead Officer for 1D1F, Ministry of Trade and Industry has explained that the companies captured were either in operations, under construction or in the pipeline adding that the sector had many companies under its radial.
He revealed this during the inauguration of the Tema Metropolitan Assembly’s (TMA) District Implementation Support Team (DIST) which has membership from the Assembly, Ghana Standard Authority, Ghana Drug and Food Authority, Environmental Protection Agency, Ghana National Fire Service, Tema Regional Police Commander, and others.
He said out of the number, 125 were in operations, 144 were under construction while 27 were in the pipeline noting that those in the pipelines had all their documentations ready to start the construction for the project.
1D1F Lead Officer also said out of the 261 districts in Ghana, the programme had so far covered 52 percent of them and was working to capture the remaining 48 percent.
He stated that the Greater Accra Region had1D1F projects in 19 districts of which the Tema Metropolis had two companies benefitting.
Mr. Addo said the Ministry of Trade and Industry had a 10-point industrial promotion agenda, which the 1D1F was part, adding that others were the Strategic Anchor Projects, Business Regulatory Reform, Industrial Park and Special Economic Zones, and the Industrial Revitalization Programme, among others.
He mentioned that the key principles of the 1D1F include private sector driven, explaining that a district could have more than one factory under the programme, and support from the district implementation support team.
He added that an existing company could be captured under the 1D1F programme for expansion or creating of new subsidiary just like in the case of Pharmanova, Everpure and Kasapreko who have expanded to other areas with the help of the initiative.
“When you have people saying we are just bringing old companies under the programme, it is not true, we capture expansions, building of new structures, and totally new companies,” he explained.
The 1D1F Lead Officer added that two districts could also come together to have one company under the programme when they realized that their raw materials and other resources could not support full independent projects.
He said among its objectives were value addition, support in import substitution, support for export, industries support, as well as opening the country up for economic activities through which jobs would be created.
He said some incentives 1D1F companies received was five years’ corporate tax free, access to utilities, duty exemption (import duty, VAT, EXIM levy and NHIS levy) for all capital goods being imported for the project.
Mr. Addo also stated that agreement had been signed with 15 commercial banks, which ensured the capping of interest rate on loans for such companies at 20 percent to ensure stable funding for the project adding that the government also subsidized 10 percent of the interest rate for companies with majority Ghanaian owned shares.
Mr. Michael Okyere Baafi, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry (MOTI), on his part urged Ghanaians to embrace the programme, as it had come to stay as an important way to industrialize the country.
Mr. Baafi said Ghana had gotten to a stage, where it did not have a choice than to industrialize, stressing that industrialization must be a way of life for the people.
He added that “1D1F should be taken like Christianity, it must be a way of life for us, and just like social media it has come to stay.”
Mr. Yohane Amarh Ashitey, Tema Metropolitan Chief Executive chairing the inauguration said he believed in allowing the private sector to lead in industrialization therefore his resolve to ensure that the 1D1F programme was utilize by many to get more industries in the metropolis in addition to existing ones.
GNA