Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom in a handshake with Vice President Dr Bawumia
Ghanaian mogul and Chairman of Groupe Nduom, Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, is considering partnering government to establish factories in certain districts in the country.
He described the much-touted ‘One District, One Factory’ (1D1F) initiative by government as ‘wonderful.’
Speaking at the Ghana Economic Forum (GEF) held in Accra yesterday, he said, “If you bring new factories to my district, we will be happy but we have some there, including my own and to be clear we are assembling televisions, we are assembling refrigerators…we have built an industrial enclave there and we do the takeaway packages there and export them.”
The respected businessman said “we can’t do ‘One District, One Factory by bringing just new entities.”
Dr Nduom, who owns over 50 businesses said, “We can do a partnership with government and expand it, make it bigger, learn from our mistakes and move forward.”
Apart from that, he also talked about how one of his businesses which ventured into rice milling by mistake at Worawora in the Volta Region later turned out to be a blessing in disguise.
“They now produce one of the finest rice in the country and have decided to invest in three more rice mills in Karaga, Assin Breku and Wenchi.
To that end, Dr Ndoum said “we want to make that rice project a ‘One District, One Factory’ in all the 10 regions; not that we own all of them but help support six others as part of the programme.”
“In three years, I can guarantee you that we can reduce rice importation by at least 30 percent.”
“I don’t worry about what the Americans might do or what the Chinese might do; I travel all over the world, there is nothing a Chinese man can do that I can’t do, there is nothing an American man can do that I can’t do,” he declared.
“I need the opportunity right here in Ghana; if I get it, I will be happy to help other people to realise their potential.”
By Charles Takyi-Boadu, Presidential Correspondent