Ghanaian government to meet with Neoplan Ghana over the company’s struggles

The Managing Director of Neoplan Ghana, George Nassar, told Accra-based Citi FM that he is hopeful that the outcome of the meeting will be positive.

“We are in the process of discussing solutions along with the majority shareholders. I am supposed to meet them. Next week, we will have some concrete information.”

Neoplan Ghana sent a memo to its staff that it had planned to shut down by the end of January 2020, due to the lack of contracts and increasing losses.

The government intervened, thereby halting the shutdown.

The management of Neoplan Ghana sent an urgent message to President Akufo-Addo on January 24, 2020, to save the company from closure.

“The Company is about to officially close down by 31st January 2020 due to lack of financial support and contracts from our majority shareholder, Government of Ghana”, portions of the letter said.

The management also lamented the reluctance of successive governments to award them contracts which has “negatively affected the productivity of the company.”

They pleaded with the President to help them since the collapse of the firm would have a huge effect on the Ghana Beyond Aid agenda.

About Neoplan

For almost 46 years of its existence, Neoplan Ghana Limited has built over 4,000 buses for the government to support the transport sector.

In its heyday, the company gave employment to hundreds of Ghanaians, and also offered one of the best options for road transport passenger vehicles.

It is in view of its popularity with Ghanaian commuters that two major bus terminals in Accra and Kumasi, as well as the localities where the company operates from within the two cities, have for a long time been called Neoplan.

The company can employ over 1,000 workers when in full production.