President Nana Akufo-Addo has assured all private sector players of his government’s support to enable them work effectively to partner the government in it’s quest to improve upon the economic fortunes of the country and better the lot of the masses.
‘I want to reiterate my government’s continued commitment to providing strategic support to companies and enterprises operating in Ghana. We will continue to enhance the existing framework designed to make 1D1F designated companies more competitive and sustenable… providing incentives such as tax holidays, import duty waivers and interest rate subsidies to help build the capacities and competitiveness of these enterprises and to position them for greater productivity and effectiveness” he said.
President Akufo-Addo was speaking at the grand commissioning ceremony of the phase 1of the B5 plus Steel Plant and the sod cutting ceremony of the phase 2 under the government’s One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative. The ceremony was held at the premises of the factory located at Lakpleku near Prampram in the Greater Accra region.
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According to the President, over 350 thousand students graduate from the country’s tertiary institutions each year coupled with the numerous apprentices and artisans scattered all over the country who enter the job market in search of jobs hence there was the need to industrialize in order to create high paying jobs to address unemployment.
This according to the president gave birth to the 1D1F initiative a few years ago. He said 76 factories were currently operating under the policy employing about 139 thousand people with about 285 thousand earmarked for employment in the coming years.
President Akufo-Addo noted that the policy has the potential of sending many young graduates into well paying and sustenable jobs across the country.
“What we are witnessing here is a true reflection of the benefits of the 1D1F policy thus the creation of thousands of direct and indirect jobs and the expansion of value addition activities in the country” he said.
He noted that the government’s agenda of import substitution, export diversification and industrial transformation was being supported significantly by the B5 group. He encouraged the owners and managers of the group to establish similar enterprises in other parts of the country by taking advantage of the various initiatives under the policy.
Chairman of the B5 plus company, Mukesh Thakwani, in his address said the company was established about two decades ago and was initiatially importing iron and steel from neighboring Togo and Cote D’ivoire but has now grown to become a net exporter to other countries. He said the company operates in all 15 member countries within the ECOWAS sub region.
He said the company had plans to expand its operations in Ghana by tapping into the 1D1F initiative. He said the company believes in producing high quality iron and steel products at competitive rate, adding that the company’s commitment to quality and service has been a major contributor to it’s success story making them win several awards including being adjuged the the best metals and construction company of the year 2017 by the Association of Ghana Industries(AGI) and also getting listed on the Ghana Club 100.
B5 Plus is West Africa’s biggest fabricator of iron and steel products. The newly commissioned factory was constructed at a cost of $80million.
By Nelson Ayivor || ghananewsonline.com.gh