Investigative journalist Manasseh Azure Awuni has clarified that Northshore Apparel GH was not funded under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme, saying the project only received direct state support through Ghana Exim Bank in 2025.

In a Facebook post on Monday, August 31, 2026, Manasseh said the promoters of the project presented its concept to the NPP government through the 1D1F Secretariat and the Ministry of Trade in 2022.

He said although the concept was acknowledged, the project was never funded under 1D1F, adding that the concessionary funding arrangements between 1D1F and commercial banks were also not extended to Northshore Apparel.

“These are the facts known to me, and I have yet to see any evidence to the contrary that this project was under the 1D1F project,” he stated.

According to him, the project was financed at its 2024 groundbreaking through grant support from Investing for Employment, a KfW facility under the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development, a commercial loan from ADB PLC and equity contributions from the promoters.

He explained that the ADB facility was a purely commercial transaction and was not advanced through 1D1F or any other government concessionary support programme. The promoters secured the loan using their properties as collateral.

Manasseh further said that government officials largely distanced themselves from the project at its groundbreaking ceremony in 2024, except for the Municipal Chief Executive of Savelugu.

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He said the Northern Regional Minister, who had been delegated by Jubilee House to attend the ceremony, did not show up.

He added that the project was presented to Ghana Exim Bank in 2025, when the bank was led by Sylvester Mensah.

According to him, the bank evaluated the project, expanded its scope, paid off the ADB loan and injected funds at concessionary rates to help bring the factory to its current stage of completion.

“This was the first time deliberate state support was made available to Northshore,” he said.

Manasseh also noted that the Youth Employment Agency, through its Youth in Garment programme, supported the training of 1,000 beneficiaries, while the National Youth Authority supported another 1,000.

He stressed that regardless of which administration supported the factory, its ability to create jobs for thousands of people should be the primary consideration.

“The most important consideration here is that the factory provides jobs for thousands,” he said, while insisting that the facts surrounding government involvement should be presented accurately.

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