Bob ROCO Romeo

  The independence story of Ghana cannot be discussed without the automobile and transport sector. The colonial Governors and other officials were travelling the country’s length and breadth in automobiles of old; and today cars remain the main means of transport. According to research, the first car to arrive in Ghana – then Gold Coast, was in 1902. The brittle and fastidious vehicle, a paraffin-fuelled and steam-driven French Gardner-Serpollet car, was intended for the Governor of the time. Since independence, Ghana’s automobile assembling industry has come to have good support from the national government - which has enabled it to become one of the fastest-growing sectors of the economy. The transport and automobile industry currently accounts for a quarter of GDP, and this year, 2021, it is expected to account for at least 32% of GDP despite the novel coronavirus pandemic. Also, the automotive industry - which is a chief sector that can drive economic forces - has a ...

  Government intends to use the development in the automobile industry as a catalyst for import substitution and exports of Ghanaian products within the African region. Speaking at the Mid-Year Policy Review in Parliament, Finance Minister said the automobile industry is considered by government as a strategic anchor and one that has the potential to transform the economy. “Ghana is well positioned to become the new automobile manufacturing hub in Africa”, Ken Ofori-Atta stated. Giving details on the sector, he said “the Ministry of Trade and Industry policy on Industrial Transformation Agenda is a significant step towards import substitution and to boost exports within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”. The introduction of a comprehensive Automotive Manufacturing Development Policy, government sources say, have attracted leading global automobile companies to the country and there’s more to come. During the last week launch of the Volkswagen collabor...

‘’This is the first, and there will be many more to come’’. These were the words of the President Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addo when the German car maker Volkswagen officially unveiled its first ever range of locally assembled cars. The VW story was birthed in 2018 when the German Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Ghana to strengthen diplomatic and development ties. This saw the German car manufacturer VW, become the first company to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghanaian government for the assembling of vehicles in the country. The car manufacturer subsequently registered its local company VW Ghana; a 100 percent subsidiary of VW South Africa to manufacture six of its models, the Tiguan, Teramont, Amarok, Passat, Polo and Caddy. The official unveiling of the six models on August 3rd,2020 was the pinnacle of the success story for the first phase of VW’s car manufacturing project valued at 10.5 million dollars. In coming months, the company is expected to roll ou...