We’ve created over 57,000 jobs under 1D1F – Trade Minister

The government has created over 57,000 job opportunities through its flagship One District, One Factory (1D1F) policy, the Minister of Trade and Industry has said.

“The 1D1F has so far created 18,811 direct jobs through the 162 1D1F companies fully in operation. 38,532 additional direct jobs are projected through these companies with 120,520 indirect jobs and 247,383 projected additional indirect jobs,” Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten said.

He was speaking at the Nation Building Updates in Accra.

The weekly updates are meant to provide insights into the government’s programmes, policies and achievements.

Speaking on the theme “Industrialising Ghana; One District at a Time, the Minister noted that the number of jobs that had been created so far through the initiative was likely to go up.

That, he said was because the government was providing more support for business entities to be set up across all districts in the country.

The 1D1F policy is a private sector-led initiative that marks a decisive shift towards industry, with the idea of generating jobs in all parts of the country and securing more value from Ghana’s raw materials.

The initiative is to ensure more sustainable food supply and create jobs for the jobless while helping small-scale entrepreneurs to advance their traditional processing of food and other items across the country.

However, providing updates on the number of factories that have been established so far, Mr Kyerematen said in all, 232 out of 260 are currently at various stages of completion with some operating at full capacity.

He said the factories cut across various sectors depending on the scope of operation. He noted that 162 of these factories operate as new factories while the remaining 64 operate as revived or expanded factories.