Work on Ghanaians' taste for foreign goods for successful 1D1F programme – Kwesi Ahwoi to govt

Everything that you produce must have a market base, Kwesi Ahwoi to local businesses

106 factories operational under 1D1F, Akufo-Addo

A former Minister of Food and Agriculture, Kwesi Ahwoi, has said for there to be a boost in government's 1 District 1 Factory initiative, Ghanaians' appetite for foreign products needs to be changed.

He furthered that there is no need for the factories to produce more goods if there are no buyers.

To buttress his claim, Mr Ahwoi explained that every business must have a target market, therefore, measures need to be put in place to ensure that goods produced locally were patronized by Ghanaians.

Speaking on TV3's New Day programme on Thursday, June 2, 2022, he said, “You just can’t put a factory anywhere when there is no raw material base when the demand is not there. So the demand has to be there. Everything that you produce must have a market and Ghanaians typically have a taste for foreign products. We do not appreciate that which is locally ours."

“So you have to make concrete efforts to develop the taste of Ghanaians so that they will buy what you are producing. Otherwise, we will produce and at the end of the day there will be no market for it,” Mr Ahwoi stated.

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo earlier this year announced that 106 out of 278 factories under his government's 1D1F initiative were operational.

He added that 148 factories were under construction while 24 were at the mobilization stage.

He made this known during the 2022 State of the Nations Address in parliament.