1 district 1 factory a nice idea but how feasible is it?

OPINION: Over the weekend, the presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Danquah Akufo Addo, made a campaign promise to establish a factory in each of the 216 districts across the country if he wins the 2016 elections.

“We want to help the private sector to flourish, and we will help establish factories in every district to help create jobs for the people,” Akufo Addo said whilst touring the Ajumako/Enyan/Essiam, Mfantseman and Abura/Asebu/Kwamankese constituencies in the Central Region on Saturday, June 18, day 3 of his 5-day tour of the region.

He assured the crowd that this policy of setting up one factory per district is doable, and urged Ghanaians not to be hoodwinked by the usual propaganda of “they can’t do it” and “it is not possible.”

As a country, we should embrace any idea that seeks to industrialise the economy as it is the only way real jobs can be created for the teaming unemployed youth.

But, how feasible is this idea?

The NPP has not put out details of this campaign promise yet.

The campaign spokesperson and communications director of the NPP, Nana Akomea, told Accra based Joy FM on Monday that “details will be out soon.”

I do not want to conclude now that it was an impulse promise because I believed so when he mooted his idea of free education.

He proved me wrong when President John Mahama announced the implementation of the free Senior High School (SHS) programme.

However, given the peculiar nature of establishing industries - feasibility study, profiling of districts and politics – I am yet to be convinced about this idea.

I dare say had the NPP flagbearer been a bit more patient with this promise, he’d have realised that there are some districts that have the same resource based.

Assuming you have nearby districts that are involved in cocoa productions, is there going to be cocoa factory in each of these cocoa producing districts to satisfy the ‘1 district 1 industry policy?’ Certainly not!

But failure to do so would have meant a failure to honour his campaign promise.

Sometimes on the campaign trail, politicians are overwhelmed by the reception they receive by their followers which often leads to all manner of promises.

For instance in 2007, former president Atta Mills promised the people of the Western Region a 10 percent share of oil revenue by virtue of the fact the oil is produced there.

Upon assuming office in 2008, he made a U-turn on that promise, arguing that each of the ten regions have unique resource bases the country benefits from.

President John Mahama in the lead up to the 2016 election also promised to deliver 200 senior high schools, as well as ten teacher training colleges.

He has failed on both promise. So far, he’s commissioned only 8 of the SHS schools and zero of the 10 teacher training colleges.

Nana Akomea anchors Akufo Addo’s campaign on “political will.”

He argues that if there is the political will, the promise should be possible.

This is not convincing enough.

President Mahama has the will to industrialise Ghana but it all comes to a credible industrialization policy.

The initial operational challenges that the Komenda Sugar Factory suffered should be a model for as to examine as we digest this campaign promise.

Government argues that there was a feasibility study, there was planning and Komenda Sugar Factory was not an out of the blue campaign promise.

Yet, there is no reliable sugarcane supply, there is no reliable power supply to the factory and there is no reliable irrigation in the Komenda area for sugarcane farmers.

The NPP has a wonderful team to fashion out an industrialisation policy, just like the NDC, but when the reality sets in, this promise may be found wanting.

Government obviously cannot spearhead this industrialisation policy. The party will need the support and collaboration of the private sector.

The reality might turn out to be different. The party is yet to consult the private sector who obviously will drive this agenda.

The private sector is looking for profit and not politics and the reality might be different from what Akufo Addo has proposed.

The NPP must put forward a convincing argument on this proposal backed by a credible plan, otherwise, this is another impulse campaign message.

1 district 1 factory a nice idea but how feasible is it?

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