File pic: On August 31, 2018, Thomas Schaefer, then Head of Sub-Saharan Region & MD, Volkswagen Group South Africa, Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany, Vice-President of the Republic of Ghana, Mahamudu Bawumia and Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerenmaten, signed an MoU to build a plant and to explore the development of new mobility solutions in Ghana.

Volkswagen is expanding its footprint in sub-Saharan Africa with the official opening of a vehicle assembly facility in Accra, Ghana. With this, Ghana becomes the fifth Volkswagen vehicle assembly location in Sub-Saharan Africa; the other locations are in South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria and Rwanda.

Universal Motors, a licensed Volkswagen importer since 2005, has been awarded the assembly contract for the initial phase of the project. The Universal Motors facility in Accra has an installed capacity to assembly 5,000 units per annum. The models to be assembled using Semi Knocked Down (SKD) assembly kits are the Tiguan, Teramont, Passat, Polo and Amarok.

The event to announce Volkswagen’s investment and the unveiling of the first vehicle assembled in Ghana was attended by the President of the Republic of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyerematen, and cabinet ministers.

The official opening of the vehicle assembly facility in the West African country, which has a population of about 30 million people, is the realisation of the MoU which Volkswagen signed with the government of Ghana in the presence of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, nearly two years ago. The government of Ghana has also fulfilled its MoU by developing a comprehensive Automotive Industry Policy with the recent announcement of the Ghana Automotive Development Policy (GADP).

With GADP, Volkswagen says is committed to helping Ghana to develop a modern automotive industry as part of the country’s industrial transformation agenda. Volkswagen Ghana, a 100% subsidiary of VW, is the first automotive company to be registered under GADP. Volkswagen Ghana is a 100% subsidiary of Volkswagen. It will be responsible for the import of the SKD kits and Fully Built Units (FBU). Jeffrey J. Oppong Peprah has been appointed as the CEO of Volkswagen Ghana.

Volkswagen is strengthening the regions and focusing on new up-and-coming markets as part of its TRANSFORM 2025+ brand strategy. The sub-Saharan region plays an increasingly important role. Although the African automotive market is comparatively small today, the Sub-Saharan region has the potential to become an automotive growth market of the future.

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