President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has said that he is delighted that Ghana’s automobile sector has successfully attracted investments from a number of global iconic brands.
He said thus while commissioning a new Assembly Plant for Nissan at Tema on Thursday March 31.
“I’m delighted that in the automobile sector we have successfully attracted investments from a number of global iconic brands including Volkswagon, Toyota, and Nissan.
“Other original equipment manufacturing groups including Hyundai, KIA, and Isuzu have also reached advanced stages of establishing commercial production facilities in Ghana.
“These new investments have been realised on the back of the new Ghana Automotive Development Policy and programme which offers very generous physical incentives and creates an attractive ecosystem for the automotive industry.
“We recognise the establishment of assembly plants alone does not create employment opportunities expected from the automotive industry,” Mr Akufo-Addo said.
In the State of the Nation Address (SONA) he delivered in Parliament on Wednesday March 30, he said regarding the automobile sector that said “Mr Speaker, quite a number of global vehicle manufacturing companies have set up assembly plants here in our country, and started producing vehicles for our market and for the West African market. The well-defined Ghana Automotive Development Policy we outdoored in August 2019 has facilitated this welcome development.
“Since June 2021, Toyota and Suzuki brands of vehicles are being produced here, commencing with the production of Hilux Pickup and Swift models. VW and Sinotruck, which commenced commercial operations in 2020, have continued to assemble their brands of vehicles and are enjoying significant local patronage.
“In addition, a new state-of-the-art assembly plant with capacity to assemble 5,000 new vehicles per annum has been established by Nissan in Tema, which is currently producing Nissan and Peugeot brands of vehicles for the Ghanaian and West African markets. I will have the pleasure to commission this new plant in Tema tomorrow. Three other vehicle manufacturers, namely KIA, Hyundai and Renault are also expected to commence commercial production this year.
“Our national iconic automobile brand, the Kantanka brand produced by Kantanka Automobile Company Ltd., also stepped-up production of its made-in-Ghana vehicles which include Nkunimdie SUV, Omama Pickup, Onantefo 4×4 Pickup, Otumfuo SUV and K71 Small SUV models.
“Now that the Minister for Finance has announced an embargo on the importation of 4×4 vehicles for official use, I hope the local assembly plants will take full advantage of the opportunity especially since government is continuing with its policy of giving first priority to locally assembled vehicles in respect of all publicly financed procurement of vehicles.”
Source: 3news.com|Ghana