In 2018, VW signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Ghanaian government to start the process of establishing an assembling plant in the country. This assembling plant is expected to serve the West African sub-regional market.
VW plant in Ghana is expected to start assembling its Tiguan, Teramont, and Passat models by the end of 2019. The plant will initially have the capacity to produce 5,000 cars per year.
Speaking to Accra-based Citi FM, Mr Schäfer said he was hopeful that VW will meet its target when it starts production.
“At the moment we are doing for example 162,000 cars and another 100,000 engines in South Africa. In Ghana currently, we’re currently not producing anything yet. But we want to start at the end of this year with a capacity of about 5,000 vehicles. The current new car market in Ghana is about 10,000 cars, so doing a capacity of 5,000 is a leap of faith. We could achieve those numbers in 2 years or even in a year.”
President welcomes VW to Ghana
In 2018, President Akufo-Addo described Volkswagen’s decision to set up a vehicle assembly plant in Ghana as a plan that will strengthen Ghana’s economy.
He said this at a joint press briefing when the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel visited Ghana. The President said that there was an agreement between Volkswagen, the government and a local company.
“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 cooperation,” President Akufo-Addo said.
