Government to establish Automobile Industry Development Centre
The centre is expected to manage an Automotive Skills and Technology Upgrading Programme to provide personnel with the requisite skills for the industry
The government says it is poised to establish an Automobile Industry Development Centre to co-ordinate the technical processes for licensing vehicle assemblers and manufacturers and to monitor their compliance with industry regulations and standards.
Presenting the Mid-Year Budget Review in Parliament last Thursday, the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, said: “The centre will also co-ordinate the implementation of a vehicle financing scheme which will link financial institutions to individuals and groups interested in purchasing newly assembled vehicles in Ghana.
“Furthermore, it will manage an Automotive Skills and Technology Upgrading Programme to provide requisite skills for the industry,” he said.
Ofori-Atta said, “It is envisaged that the development of the automobile industry in Ghana, which is one of the new Strategic Anchor Initiatives being promoted under the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Industrial Transformation Agenda, will constitute a significant step towards import substitution and enhancing exports, particularly within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).”
Manufacturing hub
The Finance Minister said that Ghana is well positioned to become the new automobile manufacturing hub in Africa.
In response to the government’s introduction of a new comprehensive Automotive Manufacturing Development Policy, some of the leading global automobile-makers have already established commercial interests in Ghana to assemble their brands of vehicle.
In March 2020, the Volkswagen Group rolled out the first locally assembled VW. VW Ghana is now producing six different brands of vehicle in the country – Amarok, Caddy, Passat, Polo, Teramont and Tiguan.
Ofori-Atta said both the Toyota and Nissan Groups are also positioned to establish assembly operations before the end of this year.
Sinotruk, a leading global manufacturer of heavy-duty trucks, is assembling a variety of trucks in Ghana through Zonda Tec Ghana Ltd.
And an indigenous Ghanaian company, the Kantanka Group, has been “formally granted a licence to continue their auto assembly operations in Ghana and to benefit from incentives under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Policy”, Ofori-Atta said.
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