AGI speaks on how Ghana’s 24-hour Economy concept can successful drive Industrialization

Chief Executive Officer of the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Seth Twum-Akwaboah, has indicated that the 24-hour economy initiative could successfully drive Ghana‘s industrialization if critical lessons from the One District, One Factory (1D1F) policy are applied effectively.

The AGI admits that while the 1D1F initiative under the previous administration had a solid industrialization concept, its biggest challenge was the unreliable supply of raw materials to feed factories.

He noted that for the 24-hour economy to thrive, it must prioritize value chain development to ensure a seamless transition from production at the farm gate to logistics, processing centers, and markets.

Speaking at a forum on the 2025 Budget Statement organized by Deloitte Ghana, Seth Twum Akwaboah made a number of recommendations emanating from the lessons learnt from the botched 1D1F policy.

A Focus on Value Chains

Commending the new government‘s approach to industrialization under the 24-hour economy, the CEO of AGI is emphasizing a focus on specific product value chains. He explained that by strengthening the linkages between agriculture and industry, Ghana could establish a more structured supply chain, preventing the bottlenecks that hindered the 1D1F initiative.

“We think that the 24-hour economy is key as far as the concept is defined this way. What is going to make it work is giving all the attention to it, the resources to make it work, bringing the stakeholders together, and making sure that that linkage that we are talking of is well-established,” he indicated.

He added, “We had the 1D1F, which had similar concepts because that one was targeting at district industrialization development. The key challenge we saw was that the raw material to feed industry was not that well-organized. So having a regular, reliable, and consistent supply of raw materials to feed the factories was a challenge. And therefore, if under the 24-hour economy, we can resolve this particular nuance, then that would be great.”

Private Sector and Access to Affordable Capital

Beyond the value chain development, the AGI CEO stressed the critical role of private sector investment in driving the initiative. He argued that the government must act as a facilitator while ensuring that businesses have access to affordable, medium-to-long-term financing to sustain production and industrial expansion.

“Funding becomes a key element. In most cases, you rely on the private sector for funding because the government can only facilitate it. And if you want the private sector to do this, then access to cheap funds on a medium to long-term basis becomes very important,” he added.

Reducing Imports, Boosting Exports

If successfully implemented, Mr. Twum-Akwaboah believes the 24-hour economy could help achieve the overarching objective of the 1D1F which is to significantly boost exports, reduce Ghana’s import bill, and reset the economy for sustainable growth.

He urged policymakers to ensure that stakeholders work together to establish robust supply chain linkages, making the initiative more effective than previous industrial policies.

As the industry players as well as other stakeholders await the detailed implementation plan of the 24-hour economy, industry leaders like the AGI are advocating for a more structured, well-financed, and private-sector-driven approach, one that learns from past challenges to accelerate industrialization and economic resilience.

By Fredrick Addai Kwarteng || TheHighStreetJournal

March 19, 2025