The CEO of the Private Enterprise Foundation (PEF), Nana Osei Bonsu, has stated that the one-district-one-factory policy to be implemented by the Akufo-Addo government will ensure massive industrialization in Ghana.
His comment comes as a repudiation of assertion by the immediate past Vice Chancellor of the University of Ghana that the policy is needless.
For him, the professor goofed in suggesting that the policy is unnecessary.
Speaking at a Graphic-Stanbic business breakfast forum Tuesday, Professor Ernest Aryeetey propounded that: “…I always say that since you are not going to create jobs in the short term in your cities, you’ve got to focus on rural districts. And how do you do it? It’s not going to be easy. I was very happy that in the government’s campaign to be elected, it did talk about one-district-one-factory [policy]. I don’t believe you can do that. I don’t believe you can do one-district-one-factory nor do I believe there is a need for it.”
He, however, called for the need to have for each district of Ghana, an industrial development plan that will have a focus on transformation of the district economy and a focus on job creation.
But speaking on the same event, Nana Bonsu expressed his disagreement with Prof. Aryeetey’s view noting that: “Prof, we think it’s tenable, we think it’s doable, we think it’s feasible, basically because the Private Enterprise Federation (PEF), looking at how the economy was not doing well, in 2016 started what we call District Business Coalitions where we are aggregating businesses within the rural areas in certain districts to come together and advocate with the duty-bearers, to get what they think they need in the communities.”
He added: “We didn’t want businesses coming from Accra to take opportunities in the districts and go back. …We have done Techiman, we have done Asante Mampong and we have done Ejura and these business coalitions are going to be the investors in the one-district-one-factory [programme].”
“We think that this one-district-one-factory opportunity is a way to develop the rural areas because the migration of our young people to the metropolitan areas has not been accompanied by jobs.”
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