What you need to know about the one-district, one-factory

The One-District-One Factory initiative was instituted by President Nana Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to address the challenge of slow economic growth at the district level.

The initiative aims to achieve this through a massive private sector led nationwide industrialization drive, which will equip and empower communities to utilise their local resources in manufacturing products that are in high demand both locally and internationally.

This will allow the country to reap the rewards of industrialization, increase agricultural and manufacturing output, reduce reliance on imports and increase food availability.

The proramme is expected to facilitate the creation of between 7,000 to 15,000 jobs per district and between 1.5 million and 3.2 million jobs nationwide by end of 2020.

Objectives

Increase job creation Promote rural income generation through grass-root participation in industrial and commercial activities Promote import substitution for currency stability Promote income generation for a wide range of producers Increase revenues through exports Attract and Improve profitability of investors Provide necessary incentive to increase yield of domestic output.

Mission Statement

The mission of the One-District, One-Factory programme is to identify and create business opportunities in the districts, harnessing the strengths and resources of the locals in an efficient technology and demand driven value chain.

TARGET GROUP

Whilst we focus on funding enterprises playing in all sectors of the economy, our emphasis is on identifying high growth businesses in the strategic sectors of the economy.

These include: Input/Raw material producer groups Agro processing and business Textiles and Clothing ICT Pharmaceutical and cosmetics Waste management Distribution and trading Tourism, Arts and Crafts

Investor Matching (International and local) Credit The project would support projects from a minimum of USD 5,000 and a maximum of USD 5 million based on project size and operational categorisation. Adjustments will be made where appropriate to accommodate projects outside the stipulated support bracket.

Credit to businesses will come in the form of:

Equity; Long and short term trade financing; Long and short term asset financing. Different modalities would be rolled out to cater for the various business segments.

Applications for financial credit support are categorised according to the investment required and number of people to be employed as shown in the table below:




Category

Investment required Micro scale Enterprises

? US$50,000 Small scale Enterprises

? US$100,000 Medium scale Enterprises

? US$1,500,000 Large scale Enterprises

? US$5,000,000 Business support services Business assessment and assistance with developing a growth strategy; Capacity building, Mentoring and coaching; Provision of networking opportunities; Assistance with financial planning and financial management; Assistance with regulatory and legal compliance; Links to strategic partners for market and community access facilitation; Sector specific technical support including project management, quantity surveying and engineering services etc.; The National Secretariat coordinates and oversees the implementation of the One-District, One-factory programme.

The PCU will work in direct partnership with the Ministry for Local Government and Rural Development, GIPC, REP, NBSSI, GEPA and all relevant stakeholder industries.

To ensure that the Secretariat achieves its set target, District and Zonal Representatives are available in each district to provide the needed support.

Key Milestones Achieved Since Project Secretariat Setup

1.The Secretariat has set up the project office and launched its website

2.Most officers have been recruited to assist the National Coordinator deliver on immediate targets

3. The Secretariat has developed a road map and target timelines

4. The timeline takes into considerations the expectations of the president and the practitioners of setting up each factory

5. The Secretariat has received over 200 requests fro support so far

6. The Secretariat has evaluated all requests and drawn up a list of 25 projects to be considered for the first 10 to implemented

7. The Secretariat has also met with over 50 investors to discuss ways they can support the initiative

8. These investors, both local and international, include financial, strategic and development focused institutions

Source: rainbowradioonline.com