1D1F: After seven years we still import toothpicks - Kwesi Pratt

Veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt Jnr. has berated the Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo government over its implementation of its flagship One District, One Factory programme (1D1F).

Speaking in an interview on Metro TV’s Good Morning Ghana on Friday, monitored by GhanaWeb, Kwesi Pratt said that even though he takes no delight in criticising the government, the 1D1F after seven years of implementation has had a meaningful impact on Ghana’s economy.

He explained that the programme was not targeted and has not fundamentally impacted Ghana’s economy, with the country still importing meagre things like toothpicks.

The veteran journalist, who is the managing editor of the Insight Newspaper, added that if proper steps are not taken to transfer Ghana’s economy, the country will continue running to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for help.

“Look, what we need to do is to industrialise in a way which changes the order of things now.

“All of these One District, One Factory factories, how have they been able to alter our import dependence? As we sit here, when you go to every supper market… you find drinking water being imported.

“Toothpicks are still being imported; this is after 7 years of One District, One Factory, seven years! Where are we going,” he asked.

He added that the factories under the programme should be able to have an impact on Ghana’s economy like the Atuabo Gas Plant, which significantly affected the country’s dependence on gas imports.

“The Atuabo project is one project, and yet it had a fundamental impact on the economy,” he said.

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