The Minister-designate for Trade, Agribusiness, and Industry, Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has proposed a 24-hour economy as a key solution to challenges facing Ghana’s One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative.
Speaking at her vetting by Parliament’s Appointments Committee, she acknowledged the programme’s achievements while addressing its significant hurdles.
Ms. Ofosu-Adjare cited raw material shortages and limited access to capital as major obstacles for agro-processing factories under the initiative.
She elaborated on the financial difficulties caused by fluctuating interest rates, which rose from a government-capped 20% to 55%, leaving a 15% funding gap that businesses struggled to cover.
Additionally, the government’s inability to honour its commitment to subsidise 10% of the interest rate further compounded the problem.
“1D1F is a programme for Ghanaians set up by the government. It has its pluses and minuses. For the pluses, the programme set up factories where individuals could add value to our raw materials, and these agro-producing factories started. But because of some challenges, they have not been able to do what was expected of them,” Ofosu-Adjare explained.
“One of the challenges I have been briefed by the ministry is the fact that these factories lacked raw materials. We all know that one of the challenges in the agro-processing industry is the lack of raw materials. So, these companies have not processed the way the government wanted it to be.”
Ms. Ofosu-Adjare also highlighted other hurdles that have plagued the 1D1F initiative.
“Even though the government supported them with some inputs, they lacked capital or access to the same, and because of that, they have not been able to do their work as expected of them. If you look at the other 1D1F companies that signed onto the programme, their major challenge was the fact that the government capped their interest rate at 20% and promised to pay 10%, which was a very good programme. But somewhere along the line, the interest rate shot up to 55%. So, now the problem the company had was who paid for the difference of 15%. One thing that the government was also not able to do was pay the extra 10% that it promised these factories.”
To address these issues, she proposed adopting a 24-hour economy to maximise productivity and resolve supply chain constraints.
“It is good that it has started. Now that we know the challenges, how are we going to solve them? I see the solution to the 1D1F in the 24-hour economy,” she stated.
By extending operational hours, Ms. Ofosu-Adjare believes factories could better utilise available resources, enhance production, and ultimately strengthen the initiative.