Seventeen districts, out of the 26 in the Northern Region, have been selected to benefit from the first phase of the ‘One District, One Factory’ policy by the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Their proposals have been accepted by the Ministry of Trade and Industry to establish medium to large-scale factories.
The districts include Savulugu, Tatale, East Gonja, Kpandai, Sawla, Damongo, and Bupei.
The Northern Regional Trade Officer, Habib Issahaku, who revealed the information in an interview with the media, said the ministry received proposals from many districts, and the 17 were selected for the first phase of the implementation of the policy.
According to him, the ministry considers the potential of districts in terms of proposals they submit before they approve.
He added that almost all the 26 districts in the Northern Region submitted their proposals, but not all were included in the first phase.
“Somewhere late last year, our ministry at the regional level, we were asked to write to all the 26 districts in the region to submit their proposals based on the natural resources that they are so much endowed with, in that we don’t want a situation where we come and build the factory for you and wouldn’t be able to get the raw materials, at least 70 to 80 per cent of the raw materials within your district. If you are asking us to come and build a cassava processing factory for you, you should be able to get at least 70 to 80 per cent of the raw materials, that is cassava, in your district,” he said.
He also said the ministry takes comparative advantages into consideration before siting factories in the various districts.
Explaining the objectives behind the 1D1F policy, Habib said government intends to create numerous jobs for the youth in the rural and peri-urban areas across the country.
He also said the policy was aimed at reducing rural-urban migration, which has become a menace in the country, adding that government also intends to maximise foreign exchange as most of the products from the factories will be exported.
The Finder