Zonda Tec Ghana Limited, the official partner of Sinotruk in Ghana, has launched the HOWO T3M light-duty truck, designed to combine the flexibility of light commercial vehicles with heavy-duty capabilities.

The new truck range is expected to support businesses across agriculture, retail, logistics and distribution, with different payload capacities to meet varying transportation needs.

Chief Executive Officer of Zonda Tec Ghana Limited, Yang Yang, says Ghana must move beyond trading and invest more in engineering and local manufacturing to create jobs and build a competitive industrial economy.

She believes developing local engineering capacity will enable the country to manufacture products for export to neighbouring countries and international markets.

“Me, Madam Yang, as the CEO of Zonda, I strongly advocate. We need to shift from trading to engineering,” she said.

She explained that the company's local vehicle assembly operations are already contributing to skills development through the training of Ghanaian engineers by technical experts from Sinotruk.

She said the initiative goes beyond providing employment, as it is also intended to address the skills gap in Ghana's automotive engineering industry.

“I really want to advocate to our government to support the engineering, especially the auto engineering industry in Ghana, because we are full of not only mineral resources, we are also full of human resources,” she stated.

She added that investing in young engineers could create opportunities for them to work in neighbouring countries where technical expertise is increasingly needed.

Yang Yang also called on government institutions, agricultural organisations, logistics providers and private businesses to support local assembly and strengthen Ghana's transportation network.

Meanwhile, Chief Representative of Sinotruk in Ghana, Mr Lu, said the partnership with Zonda Tec has evolved significantly since the two companies began working together.

He noted that the collaboration, which initially focused on vehicle distribution, has expanded into local assembly of commercial vehicles.

According to him, Sinotruk began assembling heavy-duty trucks in Ghana in 2019 before expanding its production capacity in 2023 in response to growing market demand. The company has since further expanded its facilities to accommodate the assembly of light-duty trucks.

Also speaking at the launch, a Sinotruk representative, Samuel Mo, said the HOWO T3M was developed to respond to the transportation demands and operating conditions of the Ghanaian market.

He explained that the vehicle incorporates heavy-duty engineering experience to provide durability, comfort and reliability, particularly for businesses operating under challenging road and loading conditions.

The launch adds to Zonda Tec Ghana's growing range of commercial vehicles and reinforces the company's ambition to contribute to local automotive manufacturing, technical skills development and job creation.