President John Dramani Mahama has described the Northshore Apparel Hub as a practical demonstration of what the 24-hour economy initiative seeks to achieve, particularly in job creation.
Speaking at the opening of the facility, President Mahama said the company’s decision to operate multiple shifts would allow it to employ more young people while significantly increasing production.
“This is an example of what our vision, the 24-hour economy initiative, is meant to do,” he said.
According to the President, Northshore Apparel’s multi-shift operations would create additional employment opportunities while expanding the volume of goods produced for export.
“North Shore is going to run several shifts, and it means that several more young people will get jobs to do,” he added.
President Mahama said the development formed part of a broader expectation that businesses across the country would adopt multiple-shift operations under the 24-hour economy initiative.
“And it is not only North Shore, there are several other factories that are coming up that are going to run multiple shifts and create businesses for our people,” the President stated.
He identified job creation and increased export earnings as the two major objectives of the initiative.
“And so the 24-hour economy is designed to achieve the creation of jobs and accelerated exports,” President Mahama stated.
The President said Northshore Apparel was already contributing to the job creation agenda, having created at least 2,000 jobs, while a significant portion of its products would be exported.
“And North Shore certifies both because it has created at least 2,000 jobs already and the bulk of its products are going to be exported to bring foreign exchange into Ghana,” he said.
Upon its commissioning, the President assured the company would benefit from tax incentives available to manufacturers operating in rural and northern parts of the country.
“Apart from that, it will also have tax incentives because the current tax regime gives a lower tax rate to manufacturers who go to rural areas and also to manufacturers who locate in the northern part of Ghana,” he explained.
The Northshore Apparel Hub is located in Savelugu in the Northern Region and is expected to expand Ghana’s garment manufacturing capacity while creating employment and generating export revenues.
The company is funded by the Ghana Exim Bank and it is expected to create up to 10,000 jobs after it is fully operational.