The Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI) has hailed the government’s GHS 500 million startup package for beneficiaries of the 24-Hour Economy initiative, describing it as a “monumental shift from economic contemplation to aggressive industrial execution.”
According to ASSI, the fund will enable thousands of local artisans, processors, and entrepreneurs to keep production lines running through the night, turning daytime workshops into “ceaseless engines of wealth creation.”
“For our members—the soap makers, the textile weavers, the cassava processors, and the metal fabricators—access to this startup capital means the difference between stagnation and exponential growth,” the Association said in a statement.
The statement continued that the package would work in tandem with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) to process at least half of Ghana’s national agricultural yields locally. “When the cocoa roaster, the shea butter press, and the tomato cannery operate on a three-shift rotation, we finally break the back of seasonal waste and post-harvest losses,” ASSI noted.
The group also stressed the fund’s potential to tackle youth unemployment, saying a 24-hour economy “effectively doubles or triples the workforce required by a single factory, turning the midnight hours into a frontier of opportunity.”
To this end, the ASSI urged transparent administration of the funds, warning that resources must not be “intercepted by transient technical bureaucratic bottlenecks or distributed through political favoritism.”
“The 500 million package is the spark, our small-scale industries are the dry wood, and together we will light a fire of productivity that will illuminate the entire sub-region,” the Association declared.
Below is the full Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES (ASSI) DEMANDS RIGOROUS ENFORCEMENT OF MINISTRY’S VALUE-ADDITION DIRECTIVE TO SECURE NATIONAL INDUSTRIAL SOVEREIGNTY
ACCRA, GHANA — The drum of industry must beat with a rhythm that is both constant and compelling, for a nation that sleeps while its resources are carted away will surely wake up to the hunger of its own children. It is with this unwavering resolve that the Association of Small Scale Industries (ASSI) addresses the state of our national economy, insisting that we can no longer afford to be the “proverbial hen that sits on golden eggs but allows others to hatch them.” We recognise the Ministry’s directive to process at least half of our national yields locally not merely as a policy, but as a survival manual for the modern era. There is an old wisdom
which reminds us that “the one who harvests the corn but does not know how to grind it will always be at the mercy of the miller.” For decades, Ghana has played the role of the humble harvester, providing the world with the raw substance of cocoa, shea, and timber, only to buy back the finished products at prices that mock our labor. This cycle of dependency is a leak in our national bucket that no amount of foreign aid can plug. We must realize that “until the lion learns how to write, every story will glorify the hunter”; likewise, until the Ghanaian artisan learns to refine our own resources, the true value of our land will always be credited to foreign shores. The Ministry’s “Feed-the-Industry” mandate is the spark we need to light the furnace of transformation. We must move beyond the “roguish lamentations” of what we lack and instead look at the prodigious capacity of our local processors. To say we cannot process our own yields is to claim that “the blacksmith cannot forge his own tools”—a statement that contradicts the very soul of our craftsmanship. The small-scale sector is the agora of innovation, the place where the agility of the entrepreneur meets the resilience of the artisan. We are not just making products; we are reclaiming our industrial sovereignty. We must remember that “a forest is not made of giant trees alone, but of the many small shrubs that hold the soil together.” Our small-scale industries are those shrubs, and if we nurture them, they will grow into the pillars that support our economic house.
Furthermore, we must ensure that we do not fall into the trap of “shadow-boxing” with global markets while our own backyard remains neglected. The road to industrial homeostasis is arduous, and there will be those who point to localized setbacks as a sign of failure. To them, we say: “a single tree may be bent by the wind, but the forest remains standing.” We must not conflate transient technical phenomena with a total collapse of our ambition. The strategic revival of the ASSI and our ongoing digital census are the first steps in a journey of “becoming.” We are gathering the data and the willpower to prove that the Ghanaian processor is ready to take his place at the high table of global trade.
In closing, we call upon every stakeholder to understand that “it is the one who lives near the river who knows the depth of the water.” Our industrialists are on the front lines, feeling the heat of the fire, and they tell us that the time for value addition is not tomorrow, but today. We must transform our raw potential into refined prosperity, for “the beauty of the cloth is found in the weaving, not just the thread.” Let us commit ourselves to the alchemy of industry, ensuring that the wealth of Ghana is forged by Ghanaian hands, for the benefit of all who call this land home. Only then can we secure a destiny of prosperity and abundance.
ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION OF SMALL SCALE INDUSTRIES (ASSI)
The ASSI is the leading representative body for small-scale industries in Ghana, dedicated to industrial
advocacy and the strategic growth of local manufacturing through data-driven communication and
policy alignment.
MEDIA CONTACT: PRIME AXIS STRATEGIC COMMUNICATIONS
Phone: 0244675084 / 0546154511
Email: [email protected] / [email protected]
Web: www.assighana.org
