Former Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry, Michael Okyere Baafi, has confirmed that the apparel manufacturing company at the centre of a political debate over its ownership and development was adopted and supported as a project under the Akufo-Addo administration’s One District, One Factory (1D1F) programme.
Baafi said the company was formally brought into the 1D1F arrangement during the tenure of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government and that he was personally involved in efforts to secure financing and support for its establishment.
Speaking on the Asaase Breakfast Show on Tuesday, September 1, Baafi said the company was introduced to the government under the 1D1F framework and subsequently received government support to develop its operations.
“The company came in through the 1D1F arrangement. That is a fact. That cannot be disputed,” he said.
He explained that 1D1F was designed to accommodate both new businesses and existing companies that required support to expand or overcome operational challenges.
“When you come into a 1D1F arrangement, it is either a greenfield business or a brownfield business. So, you can come in as a business that is starting afresh or an existing business that has problems and needs support,” he explained.
Mr Baafi said he became particularly involved in the project because he personally knew the promoter and was convinced about the potential of the business.
“I was so much involved myself personally because the guy who was the promoter of the business was somebody I know. So, I was so much involved in the process of trying to help them to establish and also to get funding to support their work,” he said.
He further stated that the project was “adopted, approved and supported” as a 1D1F project.
Baafi acknowledged that the NPP administration did not provide all the financing ultimately required to bring the factory to full operation, but insisted that this did not erase its role in initiating and supporting the project.
He said the government explored various financing avenues after the initial funding available proved insufficient, including seeking international financing.
As the financing process took longer than anticipated, the company’s promoters, according to Baafi, became increasingly impatient because they were convinced that the business had significant potential if adequate funding could be secured.
Baafi also rejected suggestions that the business was entirely a creation of the current administration, noting that the company had existed for some time before the NPP government became involved.
“Nobody can say that this company was established under the NDC regime, the NDC second term of Mahama. This has been a business that has been there for some time now,” he said.
His comments come amid competing political claims over which administration should receive credit for the apparel factory, with the NPP pointing to its role under the 1D1F programme and the current government highlighting actions taken to facilitate financing and completion.
Baafi said the distinction should be made between the government’s role in supporting the project and the financing required to eventually complete it.
“The NPP government did not form the company. They supported them, that’s a fact,” he said.
He maintained that the NPP government’s involvement in the project should therefore not be discounted simply because subsequent financing was secured under a different administration.
Baafi said he remained convinced about the potential of the factory and recalled the promoter’s determination to establish what he described as one of the biggest apparel companies in northern Ghana.
“He always told me that all they needed was good funding and they were going to set up one of the biggest apparel companies in the north. He was so passionate about the job and so we were willing to support and to help him to get the funding to complete the project,” he said.
Editor:
Obiri-Yeboah
