Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says government is looking to set up the Transport Sector Recapitalisation Project should they be given the nod in the upcoming December 2020 polls.

Speaking at the launch of the New Patriotic Party’s 2020 Manifesto at Cape Coast, he said the Recapitalisation Project will allow commercial vehicle operators to exchange their old vehicles for new ones which they would pay for over an extended period of time.

The Vice President said this has become necessary as a result of the government’s yearning to nurture the budding automotive industry in Ghana to make the nation an automotive hub in the West African sub region.

“If you look at our transport sector, you’ll notice that a lot of the vehicles, whether they are the taxis, whether they are the trotros or buses, are very old. They are very old on the system.

“But we are building an automotive industry. What we want to make sure is not just that we are building the industry but the people here, the business people; the commercial drivers and so on should be able to own these vehicles.

“So we are setting up a transport sector recapitalization project so that we introduce a government backed lease-to-own scheme where the existing commercial vehicle operators can essentially exchange their old vehicles for new vehicles and pay over time because these vehicles are going to be assembled or manufactured in Ghana,” he explained.

Dr. Bawumia stated that because the vehicles are going to be manufactured in the country there would be no need for the usual import duties etc that have plagued vehicle importers for a long time.

He added that to enable commercial vehicle operators access the capital to buy these vehicles, the government will be bridging the gap “between the manufacturers of the vehicle and the users of the vehicles by providing a government-bank scheme so that every trotro driver who wants to exchange their car for a new one will be able to pay over time.”