The Minister for Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen says government’s 1 District 1 Factory initiative has created 156,782 direct and indirect jobs.

He said this has gone a long way to address the problem of unemployment in the country.

Speaking at the Presbyterian Church Of Ghana’s 3rd National Public Lecture on the theme “Harnessing Job Prospects And Opportunities In The Trade And Industry Sector” in Accra, he said 106 companies are currently operating under the initiative, which is among ten strategic programmes being undertaken by the ministry to drive industrialization and job creation in the country.

“Under the 1D1F programme alone, 106 companies which are operational under the initiative have created over 156,782 direct and indirect jobs. The new strategic economic growth poles such as the establishment of vehicle assembly plants, pharmaceutical manufacturing, and garment production which have received dedicated attention by the Ministry are creating highly skilled job opportunities for Ghanaians,” he said.

He added that the ministry is focusing on strategic poles such as the Strategic Anchor Industries Initiatives which is developing new strategic growth poles to diversify the Ghanaian economy and the Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones which are providing support to private business promoters to establish Industrial Parks in each of the 16 regions to improve access to land, utilities and business support services for industrial development.

“The Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) Development [is] promoting the development of SMEs in different sectors of the economy, focusing on those with high growth potential,” he added.

Alan Kyerematen said while his ministry is working to expand the economy, it is playing its role to ensure that the expanded market access and new market opportunities particularly presented by the African Continental Free Trade Area are taken advantage of.

“Currently, 46 countries have ratified the AfCFTA agreement, with 43 having deposited their instruments of ratification, which means Ghanaian enterprises producing in Ghana will have duty-free quota-free access to these markets,” he added.

While lauding the Presbyterian Church of Ghana for its contributions to the development of different sectors of the country’s economy, Mr. Kyerematen gave assurances that his ministry “will continue to engage the Presbyterian Church of Ghana and other organizations to identify innovative ways to expand the job prospects and opportunities in the trade and industry sector.”

“I urge you all to take advantage of our new framework of Public-Private Dialogue to reach out to the Ministry and other state institutions with your innovative ideas to confront the issue of unemployment.”