Mark Badu Aboagye, the CEO of the Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI), has said that if the former Akufo-Addo government had implemented 50% of its flagship One District One Factory (1DIF) programme, unemployment would have been solved.
The GNCCI CEO also warned the John Mahama government that the 24-Hour Economy is turning into another policy slogan.
He explained policies like the 24-hour economy are well thought through, but suffer from poor implementation.
Speaking on PM Express on Joy News, Mark Badu Aboagye explained, “Obviously, there’s always an engagement for us to understand what it is, for us to understand the role that we will play, and all those things. Last Friday, we were actually supposed to meet Gossie Tannoh, but I think he travelled. So okay, so we have had that engagement with them.”
“When it comes to policies, as I said, it is implementation, the 1D1F. It’s been said that it was a very brilliant policy. If governments had even implemented just 50% of it, all these employment issues would have been solved.”
“That is what they always say, it is private sector-driven. And, of course, it should be private sector-driven. But what incentives are they providing?”
The GNCCI further added, “We had a similar incentive with 1D1F, where they say, if you go for a facility, we’ll pay a percentage of the interest. So the collateral point he talks about was also built into 1D1F. Let’s say the policies are brilliant; it is the implementation.
“And obviously, you get some political undertones. And people who can assess this funding, the real private sector people find out from them, whether they were able to get some of this funding.”
“So to solve this problem, it shouldn’t be just a political slogan and say, 24-hour economy. They are a brilliant idea. But how is the private sector taking it up? I think that to be able to solve this, one approach is to also look at our investors.”
Meanwhile, an Audit report carried out on the former Akufo-Addo government’s flagship One District One Factory (1DIF) programme has revealed shocking financial misappropriation.
The audit report produced by the Ghana Audit Service in partnership with EY and PwC showed that millions of state funds were almost stolen under the One-District One-Factory (1DIF).
On Monday, March 10, 2026, the findings presented to the Parliament of Ghana were delivered by Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem on behalf of Cassiel Ato Forson.
According to the audit report, the Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 requested the release of GH¢89.4 million to five commercial banks as the government’s contribution toward interest; however, all five institutions reportedly denied being owed any money by the government.
The Deputy Finance Minister Thomas Nyarko Ampem detailed, “The then Ministry of Trade and Industry in 2024 submitted a request of GH¢89.4 million to the Ministry of Finance to be transferred to five commercial banks as a government contribution to interest payments under the One District, One Factory (1D1F) initiative. The Ministry of Finance subsequently processed the same to the Controller and Accountant General’s Department for payment.
“This particular request was part of BTAs sitting at the Controller and Accountant General’s Department, awaiting cash for payment. When auditors contacted these five banks to confirm the liability, every single one of them denied being owed any amount by the government under the said arrangement. According to the auditors, the said GH¢89.4 million debt was fictitious. Without the audit intervention, a whopping GH¢89.4 million of hard-earned public money could have been disbursed to settle this non-existent liability,” he said.
Also, the Deputy Minister further disclosed that the audit also uncovered another questionable transaction involving a reported GH¢10.5 million payment into a so-called “Buffer Account” at a commercial bank.
“Rt. Hon. Speaker, payment of GH¢10.5 million was recorded as having been made into an account named the ‘Buffer Account’ at a commercial bank. Upon verification, the bank confirmed that it had never received such a payment. The account number cited did not exist within the bank’s records and did not even conform to its account numbering format,” he said.
Also, the Mahama government has since announced plans to subject the Akufo-Addo government’s entire One District One Factory programme to a full forensic audit.
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If 1D1F had even been 50% implemented, unemployment would have been solved – Mark Badu Aboagye, CEO, Ghana National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GNCCI)#JoyNews #Viral #Explorepage #Ghana #JoyFM #GhanaNews #Ghana #NewsUpdate #Africa #GhPolitics #News #AfricaNews… pic.twitter.com/tcIWwSjJ54
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