Locally assembled Volkswagen vehicles to hit Ghanaian market by January next year, Managing Director of VW Africa, Thomas Schaefer has said.

VW has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Ghana to begin the process of establishing an assembling plant in the country to serve the West African sub-regional market.

The assembling plant is expected to produce about 5 000 units of vehicles every year with plans to increase production depending on the market demand.

“We are looking at an installed capacity of 5000 units per year but hoping to expand as the demand increases.

We chose Ghana a year ago after we had a discussion with the government of Ghana and we believe that the country is an ideal spot to start with” he said.

According to him, there is a potential of Ghana importing about 300,000 cars per year but the future for Ghana is not second-hand cars but jobs for its youth.

On his part, Chief Executive of Universal motors, the authorized dealer of VW vehicles in Ghana Subhi Accad disclosed that the company is looking forward to work with the government to develop the automobile industry in Ghana.

He said Ghana’s automobile industry needs to be regulated hence the need to have a clear policy for the sector.

The German Automobile manufacturer says the move is part of the Germany-Africa Investment drive championed by the two countries after the G20 summit last year.

The company, VW which has a franchise in South Africa will be using Ghana to reach its West African market.

Akufo-Addo lauds VW’s decision to set-up In Ghana

According to the President, an agreement between Volkswagen, the Government of Ghana, and a local Ghanaian company for the assembly, and, ultimately, the production of automobiles in Ghana has been reached, after a business meeting between officials from Ghana and a German business delegation.

The President disclosed this at a joint press briefing held as part of the official visit of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel to Ghana, on Thursday, August 30, 2018, at the Jubilee House in Accra.

Addressing the press, which comprised the local and international media, President Akufo-Addo said, “there are so many areas that our bilateral relationship has offered us, but the key part of it for me is the emphasis on investment and trade corporation.”  

He emphasized Ghana’s “determination to deal with the matters confronting our country such as youth employment, the desire of our youth to seek greener pastures elsewhere by improving the management of our national economy.”

President Akufo-Addo stressed that “The stronger the economy we have, the more opportunities it gives to the young people and obviously the pressure that will be on them to embark on those hazardous undertakings will be dealt with”.

He told the press that, “in so doing we’ve set for ourselves a vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, a Ghana which will depend more and more on mobilizing its own internal resources to confront the issues of development that there are before us.”

In all of this, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “there are a lot of opportunities here, and we are hoping that this business delegation that you have brought with you will see the opportunities that there are in several of the flagship programmes of our government, the One-District-One-Factory, the industrial parks that we are determined to create.”

President Akufo-Addo also assured Chancellor Merkel of Ghana’s continued corporation with the international community on issues bothering illegal migration.

On the threat of terrorism, President Akufo-Addo thanked Chancellor Merkel and Germany for the assistance towards fighting this threat and the jihadist menace.

“Within our modest means, we will continue to play our effective role, because clearly it is in our interest to do so. It is in our interest to contribute to ridding the region of these instruments of destabilization and destruction,” he assured.