Volkswagen is reaffirming its commitment to the development of the automotive industry in Ghana with the opening of a new vehicle assembly facility in Accra.
With this move, Volkswagen also takes over the new vehicle assembly responsibility from its licensed importer in Ghana, Universal Motors Ltd (UML), a statement from the automobile company said.
UML was awarded the assembly contract when Volkswagen officially established Volkswagen Ghana, a 100% Volkswagen subsidiary, in August 2020. UML assembled models such as Tiguan, Teramont, Passat, Polo, Amarok and T-Cross on behalf of Volkswagen using semi-knocked down (SKD) assembly kits imported from South Africa.
The company’s new 5,000-square-metre vehicle assembly facility is located near the Port of Tema in Accra. It has an installed capacity to assemble 5,000 units per annum.
The facility will assemble T-Cross, Tiguan, Amarok and Virtus. In the beginning, the new assembly facility will create about 80 jobs, including local third-party service suppliers.
Volkswagen was the first automotive company to be registered under the Ghana Automotive Development Programme (GADP) and this new investment strengthens the brand’s presence in the country and the region.
Ghana an important market
“Ghana is an important market for our sub-Saharan Africa expansion plans, especially in West Africa, where we have identified opportunities of developing a collaborative automotive industry hub amongst the countries in the region,” said Martina Biene, chair and managing director of Volkswagen Group South Africa.
“The hub concept will ensure that each country with an automotive development policy or economic interest in the automotive industry has an important role to play in the supply value chain.
“We believe AfCFTA [the African Continental Free Trade Agreement] will be the catalyst which will unlock trade barriers and promote regional collaboration amongst the countries,” Biene said.
She added: “Volkswagen is fully committed to Ghana and is supporting its industrial transformation agenda despite the current economic challenges facing the country. We are here for the long haul.
“Our company believes in long-term investments which are nurtured through mutual relationships with like-minded partners. Ghana’s commitment to the development of its automotive industry is evident in the GADP, which is still the blueprint automotive policy in the region in terms of creating an enabling environment for the establishment of an automotive industry in sub-Saharan Africa.”
Last frontier
Ghana is the fourth Volkswagen assembly location in sub-Saharan Africa. The other locations are in South Africa, where Volkswagen has been manufacturing vehicles for over 72 years, Kenya and Rwanda.
Volkswagen has a presence in 17 countries in sub-Saharan Africa where it sells passenger and commercial vehicles through licensed importers.
“As the last frontier for the global development of the automotive industry, sub-Saharan Africa has become very important for the sustainability of Volkswagen. We are therefore accelerating our growth strategy on the continent by playing a pioneering and leading role in the development of the automotive industry,” added Biene. Asaase Radio