Government is to establish an Automobile Industry Development Centre to coordinate the technical processes for licensing vehicle assemblers and manufacturers, Mr Ken Ofori-Atta, the Minister of Finance said on Thursday.

The minister who announced this at the presentation of the 2020 mid-year budget review statement said the centre would also coordinate the implementation of a Vehicle Financing Scheme, which would link financial institutions to individuals and groups interested in purchasing newly assembled vehicles in Ghana.

It will also monitor compliance with industry regulations and standards and manage an Automotive Skills and Technology Upgrading Programme to provide requisite skills for the industry.

The Minister said some leading global automobile companies referred to as Original Equipment Manufacturers had already established commercial interests in the country to assembly their brand of vehicles.

In March 2020, the Volkswagen Group rolled out the first VW locally assembled vehicle.
The VW Ghana is currently producing six different brands of vehicles-Tiguan, Teramont, Amarok, Passat, Polo, and Caddy.

The Toyota and Nissan Groups are said to be also positioning to establish assemble operations before the end of the year.

Mr Ofori-Atta said Sinotruk, a leading global manufacturer of Heavy Duty Trucks was assembling a variety of trucks in Ghana through Zonda Tec Ghana Limited.

He announced that the Kantanka Group, an indigenous Ghanaian company had been granted a license to continue with its auto assembly operations in Ghana and to benefit from incentives under the Ghana Automotive Manufacturing Development Policy.

"We envisaged that the development of the automobile industry in the country, which is one of the new Strategic Anchor Initiatives promoted under the Ministry of Trade and Industry’s Industrial Transformation Agenda, will constitute a significant step towards import substitution and enhancing exports, particularly within the context of the African Continental Free Trade Area", the Minister said.

He said the country was well-positioned to become the new automobile manufacturing hub in Africa, adding, "We are gradually building a stronger foundation for a more inclusive transformation of our country."