Business News of Thursday, 6 December 2018

Source: starrfmonline.com

1D1F: Akufo-Addo commissions diaper making factory in Bortianor

President Akufo-Addo unveiling the plaque for the commissioning of the factory President Akufo-Addo unveiling the plaque for the commissioning of the factory

President Akufo-Addo has commissioned the Sunda Ghana Diaper Ltd, the largest diaper making factory in sub-Saharan Africa.

President Akufo-Addo undertook the commissioning of the factory, which is operating under Government’s 1-District-1-Factory initiative, on Wednesday, 6th December 2018, the final day of his tour of the Greater Accra Region, at the Bortianor, in the Ngleshie Amanfro constituency.

With an investment of some $84 million, the Sunda Ghana Diaper Ltd will be one of the largest projects operating under the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative and will be exporting its products to markets in sub-Saharan Africa.

The company, as part of operating under the 1D1F initiative, is currently receiving incentives such as tax holidays, import duty waivers and interest rate subsidy to help build its capacity and competitiveness, and, thereby, position it greater productivity and efficiency.

Addressing the gathering, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “we have to attract investment into Ghana like Mr. Y.C. Chang, people who believe that the investment climate of our country is good, the governance of our country is good, and the opportunities for investment in our country are good.”

With Sunda Ghana Limited set to establish two more factories under the 1-District-1-Factory initiative, i.e. Homepro Ghana Limited with an additional investment of USD$26 million and Sunda Hardware Limited with an additional investment of USD$18 million, the President stressed that “what it means is that the work we are doing to strengthen the macroeconomy in our country is not some paperwork, it is not talk, talk work.”

He continued, “It has to do with creating the conditions for investment in our country, and that is why it is extremely important for government to commit itself to the discipline that would enable it have a strong macroeconomy.”

President Akufo-Addo assured that “so long as I am your President, that discipline is going to be there in the management of the economy. We are not going to preside over widening deficits, high debts, high rates of interest, unstable currency, erratic power supply. That is not the path of the Akufo-Addo government for Ghana.”

Apart from establishing a strong macro economy, providing good governance, he noted that the other important contribution of government to the economic development of our country is to make sure that Ghanaian industries, and industries established in Ghana, do not meet unfair competition from others.

“So that is another responsibility of government, to create a level playing field for Ghanaian industries. It is establishing industries here in Ghana that we can get work for our young people. When we continue to depend on imports, we are creating jobs for other people overseas. Let us work hard to create jobs here for our people in Ghana, by encouraging investments like what we are seeing today,” he added.

To the Chiefs and people of Bortianor/Ngleshie Amanfro, President Akufo-Addo urged them to “collaborate with our Chinese friends who have shown confidence in our country, and let them see that Ghanaian people know how to conduct ourselves properly, and we know how to conduct ourselves properly.”