President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo yesterday inaugurated a newly established vehicle assembly plant of Rana Motors at Amasaman in the Ga West Municipality with a pledge to introduce sector specific initiatives to drive Ghana’s industrial transformation.
The facility, which occupies 13.5 hectares of land is the largest amongst the five vehicle assembly plants operating in the country.
Currently, the plant has an operational capacity of 30,000 cars annually, rising to 70,000 when operating at full capacity.
According to the President, the government was working to create the enabling environment for businesses, particularly those under the 10 strategic anchor industries to thrive, provide employment opportunities and contribute to national development.
He said, the establishment of the vehicle assembly plant was in line with government’s efforts to industrialise the country and make Ghana an automobile hub within the West African sub-region.
In this regard, he stated that, the government championed the national automobile development policy to create the enabling environment to attract global automotive manufacturers into the country.
President Akufo-Addo commended Rana Motors for the investment which would compliment government’s efforts to attract more Ghanaians into the automobile industry and increase Ghana’s local vehicle assembly capacity to 100,000 per year.
In support of the local vehicle assembly industry, he said, the government had prioritised the purchase of locally-assembled cars and called on the private sector and individuals to patronise locally-made products to create the necessary demand and market.
President Akufo-Addo noted that, the government was developing a vehicle financing scheme to enable Ghanaians, who currently do not have financial capacity, purchase locally assembled cars.
Already, the President said, that the government had waived Value Added Tax (VAT) on the sale of domestically-assembled vehicles as a strategy to drive down cost and make it affordable.
He indicated that, the Ministry of Finance was working on outstanding measures to ensure the full implementation of the amended customs Act to drive further investments into the country.
President Akufo-Addo said Ghana would play its part in ensuring that Africa meets the target of 1.5 million locally assembled cars by 2023 to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) for enhanced market.
He urged all assemblers and original vehicle manufacturers to support government’s plan to build an integrated automotive development industry saying that work was being done of the Ghana Automotive Component Manufacturing Policy which provides incentives to attract investors into the sector
Incentives should translate into competitive pricing to allow more Ghanaians to purchase locally assembled vehicles.
In a speech read on his behalf, Minister of Trade and Industry, K.T Hammond, said, the opening of the Rana Motors assembling plant, was the third vehicle assembly plant established for commercial production of global brands in Ghana adding that, in addition to Kantanka Automobile Limited, there were five new assembly plants producing nine brands of vehicles.
He noted that, the investment in the new plant further cements Ghana’s growing position as the go-to destination for investors in the automotive industry within the sub-region.
Under the newly proposed Components Manufacturing Policy, he said, the government would provide support to the private sector to invest in the local manufacturing of components and parts including electric harnesses and wires, rubber extrusion parts, air and oil filters, lead acid batteries, shock absorbers, exhaust systems, steel wheel rims, brake system components, windscreens and wiper blades.
He noted that the Ministry would engage the Ministry of Finance on the Legislative Instrument announcing the effective date of implementation for all outstanding commitments in the provisions in the Customs (Amendment) Act, 2020 (Act 1014) saying that, that was a fundamental provision for major investment in local component manufacturing to commence.
Mr Essam Odaymat, Chief Executive Officer of Rana Motors, expressed gratitude to the government for creating the environment for assemblers to operate in the country.
He noted that, the assembly plant would provide employment to more than 300 people and had already provided training to about 3,000 personnel to be able to provide automobile services.
MrOdaymat said the company was ready to provide modern and technology-driven automotive services in support of the agenda to make Ghana an automobile hub in West Africa.
BY CLAUDE NYARKO ADAMS