Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has argued that Ghana’s youth unemployment challenge could have been significantly reduced if the government had maintained or expanded the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme instead of allowing it to lose momentum.
Speaking in an interview on TV3 on Tuesday, May 12, he said the discontinuation of the industrialisation policy—initiated under the previous Akufo-Addo administration—has weakened efforts to stimulate private sector-led job creation and entrepreneurship.
He criticised what he described as missed opportunities by the current administration, claiming it failed to build on the economic stability it inherited.
“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 stated.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin maintained that 1D1F had been a key driver of industrial development by encouraging private investment through incentives, adding that its continuity would have helped absorb more young job seekers into the labour market.
“The 1D1F was one key policy decision that they should have sustained because in Ghana today, our main problem is unemployment,” he said.
He further questioned the absence of a clearly defined replacement strategy following what he described as the programme’s effective abandonment, insisting that government has not outlined a structured alternative for industrial growth.
According to him, discussions with stakeholders in the manufacturing sector, including the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), revealed concerns over stalled projects previously supported under the initiative.
He cited a reported case of a nearly completed watermelon processing factory in Walewale that has allegedly been left idle due to lack of continued government backing.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin disclosed that the Minority in Parliament has submitted a formal question to the Minister for Trade, seeking clarification on the government’s current private sector policy direction and what measures have replaced 1D1F in supporting industrial development and job creation.
