In expanding its footprint in Africa, Volkswagen has officially launched its Ghana plant.
The automaker says it has officially opened a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, Ghana, to join its other locations in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.
The facility in Accra has a capacity to build 5,000 vehicles a year. The models to be assembled using the automaker’s semi-knocked-down assembly kits are the Tiguan, Teramont, Passat, Polo and Amarok.
The event to announce automaker’s investment and the unveiling of the first vehicle assembled in Ghana was attended by the President of the Republic of Ghana, His Excellency Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Trade and Industry Alan Kyerematen, and cabinet ministers also saw announcements around Volkswagen’s overall investments into the country.
The move is the culmination of a memorandum of understanding Volkswagen signed with the government of Ghana in the presence of German Chancellor Angela Merkel nearly two years ago. Ghana has played its part by announcing the creation of the Ghana Automotive Development Policy (GADP).
The process has seen the creation of Volkswagen Ghana, (a 100% subsidiary of Volkswagen Group) the first automotive company to be registered under GADP and wholly-owned by the automaker. It will be responsible for the import of the SKD kits and fully built vehicles.
Jeffrey J. Oppong Peprah has been named CEO of Volkswagen Ghana.
In a statement, the automaker says it recognizes that while “the African automotive market is comparatively small today, the Sub-Saharan region has the potential to become an automotive growth market of the future.”
