Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen
• A total of 150,000 jobs have so far been generated under the 1D1F initiative
•The beneficiaries of the jobs culminate from the establishment of 104 factories
•The trade minister, Alan Kyerematen says government has mobilized GH¢2.69 billion in revenue under the 1D1F
Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen has revealed some 150,000 jobs have been created under government’s flagship programme, One District-One Factory.
The minister speaking after the presentation of the 2021 mid-year budget review on Asempa Radio monitored by GhanaWeb outlined that the beneficiaries of the jobs culminated from the establishment of 104 factories.
Alan Kyerematen revealed that 58 state-of-the-art factories have also been established to help curb unemployment among the youth in the country.
On the agricultural sector, the trade minister hinted the establishment of more silos to store produce from farmlands will go a long way to minimise post-harvest losses and make food abundantly available throughout the year.
He added that, “five Medium-Scale Agro-Processing factories have been established in Sefwi Akontombra, Nsuta, Savulugu, Dompim and Nkra Nkwanta”, aimed at boosting agribusiness and creating more incomes for farmers.
Located in typical farming communities, the minister said these processing factories will create direct and indirect jobs in the rural areas for the youth and help minimise the debilitating rural-urban migration.
On revenue mobilization, Alan Kyerematen said the “government has so far mobilized GH¢2.69 billion for companies under 1D1F”.
He pointed that Ghana’s industrial drive has been enhanced with the establishment of four new vehicle manufacturing firms aimed at making it a vehicle manufacturing hub in West Africa.
On the payment of subsidy to support industry, the trade minister said the “government has given interest subsidy support of GH¢260.9 million to companies under 1D1F in the 134 districts that have benefited from the Project so far”.
Mr Kyerematen said government initiatives, such as the automized system of clearing goods at the ports, UNIPASS, has also yielded enormous benefits as revenue at the ports increased by GH¢3.1 billion in its first months of operation even as companies under 1D1F have benefitted from import duty exemption worth GH¢585 million.