Government has approved for the construction of eight factories in Upper West Region under the “One District One Factory” (1D1F) initiative as part of Ghana’s industrialisation agenda to equip and empower communities to utilise local resources for manufacturing.

Three out of the approved factories which include; fruit juice, cattle rearing and Shea nut processing factory plants are expected to be established in the Wa Municipality.

Sissala West District is to get two factories for cotton seed, soy bean and Shea nuts oil processing as well as production of oil and cake from Shea nuts, soy bean and ground nuts.

Cotton production and refinery factory will be Lawra Municipal while Nandom District will receive Shea butter factory with Tumu Municipal given cassava processing factory.

Jirapa Municipal and Lambusie, Nadowli-Kaleo, Wa West, Wa East, and Daffiama-Busie-Issa Districts are expecting their share by 2020 as pledged by government.

Mr. Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry said this during the launch of District Implementation Support Teams (DITs) in Wa on Monday.

He said government projects to establish five factories in each Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA) by 2020 and would facilitate opportunities for the private sector to lead the implementation of the 1D1F initiative.

Eight private companies have been selected to lead the process of implementing the factory initiative in the Region and about GH¢6.5 billion, Mr Ahomka-Lindsay said, was required to support 323 businesses to deliver and out of that GH¢2.5 billion was available.

He advised businesses against litigations and encouraged the DITs to help such businesses to resolve their challenges so as to avoid unnecessary court actions.

The DITs comprises Municipal and District Chief Executives, Members of Parliament, Municipal and District Coordinating Directors, District Planning Officers, Representative of the Traditional Councils and the Ministry of Trade and Industry Regional Officer.

The rest are; Representatives of MMDAs, Ghana Standards Authority (GSA), the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA), Ghana Water Company Limited and the Electricity Company of Ghana.

The DITs are expected to assist business promoters to finalise land acquisition and registration processes and to fulfil statutory requirements including; Environmental Protection Agency, GSA/FDA and the Ghana National Fire Service certifications.

They are also facilitate extension of infrastructural facilities to project sites, advocate to win public support for projects in their localities, support 1D1F monitoring and evaluation personnel and work closely with Ministry of Trades and Industry Technical Support Group members assigned to the region among other roles.