18 Factories to receive govt’s stimulus support
Eighteen factories have qualified to benefit from the government’s stimulus support under its flagship One-district, One-factory (1D1F) initiative.
Fifty more factories are expected to be accredited by the end of the year to enjoy the stimulus package.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, the Minister for Information designate, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, explained that under the stimulus package, the government would facilitate the provision of equipment for the beneficiary factories and also provide them with tax incentives.
When asked if the 18 factories had commenced operations, Mr Oppong Nkrumah said some of them were functioning, while others were at various stages of completion.
“So far, 18 of such factories have been accredited.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has visited and inaugurated some of these 18 factories,’’ he said.
Criticisms
The ID1F is an initiative by the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo administration aimed at transforming the country into an industrial hub.
During the 2016 campaign, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) promised to spearhead the establishment of a factory in each of the 216 metropolises, municipalities and districts across the country.
Critics described the initiative as nothing more than a campaign gimmick used by the NPP to capture power.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah accordingly refuted assertions by critics that the government promised to set up the factories itself.
“Government never said that it would build the factories on its own. The administration has consistently said that it will facilitate the efforts of the private sector to establish these factories.
And that is exactly what we are doing,”
Factories
Checks by the Daily Graphic revealed that two factories had so far been inaugurated — a motor assembling plant in Tamale in the Northern Region and a spring and bolt factory in the Ashanti Region.
During the presentation of the mid-year budget review in Parliament on July 19, 2018, the Minister of Finance, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, announced the commencement of work on 15 factories under the IDIF programme.
They include a pineapple processing factory in the Ekumfi District, a pineapple and orange processing factory in the Komenda-Edina-Eguafo-Abrem (KEEA) municipality, a cassava starch processing factory in the Fanteakwa District and a cashew processing factory in Tema.
Others are a fruit processing factory in the West Akim District, a shea butter processing factory in the Accra metropolis, an avocado processing factory at Ningo-Prampram and the cultivation and processing of sweet potato for bread, chips and biscuit making in the Gomoa West District.
The rest are the manufacturing of agricultural inputs in the Tema metropolis, garment manufacturing in the Accra metropolis and a tile and brick production factory at Tanoso in the Brong Ahafo Region.
