Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has stated that Ghana’s rising youth unemployment could have been addressed more effectively if the government had sustained or expanded the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative.
According to him, the decision to abandon the industrialisation programme, which was started under the previous Akufo-Addo administration, has left a major gap in the government’s strategy for supporting private sector growth, job creation, and entrepreneurship.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin said he has been disappointed with what he described as the government’s inability to set the right priorities despite inheriting an economy that was beginning to stabilise.
“I think that the government did not take advantage of the goodwill that greeted it upon assumption of office. There was a huge goodwill, and supporting pillars of the economy had been well put in place,” he said while speaking in an interview on TV3 on Tuesday, May 12.
He argued that one of the most important policy decisions of the previous administration under Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was the implementation of the 1D1F policy, which encouraged private sector participation in industrial development through tax incentives and investment support.
“The 1D1F was one key policy decision that they should have sustained because in Ghana today, our main problem is unemployment,” he stated.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin further claimed that the government has failed to present any clear alternative policy after discontinuing the programme.
He revealed that during a recent engagement between the Minority Caucus and the Association of Ghana Industries, business leaders expressed concerns over stalled projects initiated under the 1D1F programme.
According to him, the President of AGI cited a watermelon processing factory in Walewale that is reportedly 90% complete but has stalled due to a lack of government support.
He said the Minority has subsequently filed a parliamentary question for the Minister for Trade to explain the government’s policy direction for the private sector and clarify what alternatives have been put in place following the cancellation of the programme.
