Ghana’s cancellation of the One District One Factory (1D1F) programme has left more than 300 factories at various stages of completion in limbo, with no credible replacement industrial strategy announced and youth unemployment continuing to deteriorate.
Minority Leader Alexander Afenyo-Markin has mounted a strong defence of the programme, arguing that its discontinuation has carved a significant gap in Ghana’s private sector development strategy at a moment when stable employment opportunities remain scarce for young Ghanaians.
“The 1D1F was one key policy decision that they should have sustained,” Afenyo-Markin said, stressing that the government has yet to present any comprehensive alternative capable of matching the programme’s employment generation potential.
Trade, Agribusiness and Industry Minister Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare formally announced the cancellation last year, effectively ending one of the most ambitious industrialisation drives in Ghana’s recent history. No official audit has since been published detailing which projects will continue, which have been abandoned and whether any will be absorbed into the government’s proposed 24-hour economy framework.
Launched in 2017, the initiative sought to establish at least one factory in each of Ghana’s 261 districts, targeting decentralised industrial growth, local economic stimulation, reduced rural migration and sustainable employment creation. By the end of the Akufo-Addo administration, official reports indicated more than 300 factories were at different stages of implementation, with over 150 already operational across the country.
The programme generated thousands of direct and indirect jobs across agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ceramics, aluminium processing, food packaging and automobile assembly. In agro-processing districts, factories provided ready markets for locally grown commodities including cassava, tomatoes, mangoes, rice, spices and oil palm, creating economic linkages that extended well beyond factory gates.
Notable facilities included the Ekumfi Fruits and Juices factory in the Central Region, reported to employ approximately 5,000 people, alongside the Twyford Ceramics factory in the Western Region, the Pwalugu Tomato Factory in the Upper East Region and Keda Ceramics in Shama.
Afenyo-Markin disclosed that concerns over stalled factories surfaced during a recent engagement between the Minority Caucus and the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), where business leaders expressed frustration over incomplete projects and unclear policy direction. A watermelon processing plant in Walewale, reportedly around 90 percent complete, has stalled due to the withdrawal of government support. Parliament has since filed a formal question to the Trade Minister demanding clarity on what industrial policy has replaced 1D1F and what support is planned for incomplete projects.
Ghana’s industrial standing during the programme years was captured in a report by The African Exponent, which ranked the country eighth among Africa’s most industrialised manufacturing economies, attributing part of the progress to 1D1F alongside the international success of companies such as Kasapreko and Fan Milk.
Analysts warn that abandoning large-scale industrial job creation without a credible replacement risks reversing rural industrialisation gains, disrupting agricultural supply chains and deepening youth unemployment at a time when pressure on Ghana’s labour market continues to mount.
