VW, Toyota to begin assembling cars in Ghana this year

According to him, Sinotruk, which also expressed interest in Ghana, will also begin assembling its plant this year.

“Toyota is scheduled to start the assembly of vehicles in Tema in the last quarter of this year. We have high hopes for this new industry, which has come to join our Kantanka.”

President Akufo-Addo said this while delivering the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on the floor of Parliament.

He said, “We launched the Ghana Automotive Development Policy in August last year, and it has, so far, attracted investments and commercial interests from very big players including Toyota, Volkswagen, Nissan, Renault, Hyundai, Sinotruk and Suzuki.”

Toyota’s Africa division Chief Executive Officer, Richard Bielle, had said that he wants the continent to provide up to 30% of the corporation’s total annual revenue, currently at $60 billion, within the next 20 years.

This is a goal based on forecasts that Africa will account for one-third of the world’s population by 2050, up from 17% now.

“I think you’re going to see movement into Ghana pretty quickly,” said Martyn Davies, managing director of emerging markets and Africa at Deloitte. “Ghana has a lot of work to do, and heavy lifting on the human resources front is required. But manufacturers and original equipment manufacturers have got the resources, and they can invest heavily. So, this is not insurmountable.”

The African auto parts market for passenger vehicles is emerging as one of the most important re-export markets, growing more than 11 per cent year-on-year, and estimated to be worth $7.68 billion in 2013 and based on the double-digit growth of demand in key Sub-Saharan countries, the value of Africa’s auto parts market is likely to double by 2020.