Beyond assembly: Building Ghana’s automotive industry

The visit by the Vice President, Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang, to the assembly yard of Zonda Tec Ghana Limited in Tema offers an important opportunity to reflect on what Ghana really wants from the emerging automotive industry.

Seeing a vehicle assembly plant operating around the clock is encouraging. It demonstrates that the Government’s 24-hour economy agenda can translate into real industrial activity, jobs and business opportunities.

But assembly alone cannot be the end of the journey.

The Vice President was right to challenge Zonda Tec Ghana Limited to identify at least one or two vehicle components that could be manufactured locally.

That request points to a bigger question: How much of the value created by Ghana’s automotive industry will actually remain in Ghana?

For too long, Ghana has imported finished goods, assembled some products locally and celebrated the resulting activity as industrialisation. True industrialisation requires stronger local participation.

It means developing the skills, technology, suppliers and supporting industries needed to produce more of what goes into the final product.

The automotive industry provides a good opportunity to achieve this.

Vehicle assembly can create jobs, but local production of components can create many more opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, engineers, technicians and artisans.

Components such as seats, batteries, wiring systems, tyres, glass and metal parts could provide a starting point for developing a strong local supply chain.

That could eventually enable Ghanaian companies to become suppliers to major vehicle manufacturers rather than remaining largely consumers of imported components.

The Vice President’s call, therefore, must not end with the visit to the Zonda Tec facility.

Government must work with vehicle assemblers, universities, technical universities and technical and vocational education and training institutions to identify components that can realistically be produced in Ghana.

The exercise must be deliberate, properly funded and supported by appropriate incentives.

The issue of skills is equally important.

Prof. Opoku-Agyemang’s request for Zonda Tec to provide information on the skills it requires is a sensible starting point.

Ghana cannot build a competitive automotive industry if local workers are unable to take up the jobs being created because they lack the necessary skills.

The Government must ensure that such information feeds directly into training programmes and curricula. Young Ghanaians should be trained for the jobs that the automotive industry is creating, rather than simply being equipped with certificates that have little connection with industry needs.

The 24-hour economy must also be measured by more than the number of businesses operating in shifts.

Its success should be judged by the number of sustainable jobs created, the growth of local enterprises, the volume of locally manufactured goods and the extent to which Ghana reduces its dependence on imported inputs.

The Ghanaian Times is of the conviction that the Zonda Tec initiative should form part of a broader national strategy for automotive industrialisation.

Government must set clear local-content targets, provide incentives for component manufacturers and strengthen links between vehicle assemblers and Ghanaian businesses.

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