Asset Management Company (AMC), Tesah Capital, has shared its outlook on the country’s burgeoning automobile industry for 2021.
According to the AMC, it expects government to provide continuous support to the new industry via the introduction of new policies aimed at growing the industry and ultimately achieving its goal of making the country an automotive industrial hub to serve the larger West African Region market of more than 380 million people.
Government in March last year, made a strong case for the passage of the Automotive Industry Bill which formally laid the platform for Ghana’s automotive industry.
The passage of the bill was done through an amendment to the Customs Act, 2015 (Act 891), which provides some incentives to car manufacturers and also places a ban on the importation of salvage cars and second-hand cars of more than ten years old.
According to government, the move is aimed at making Ghana the hub for Automotive Industry in the West African sub-region.
Already, Toyota and Suzuki have formally committed to set up car assembly plants in Ghana. This was after Nissan and Sinotruk also expressed interest in Ghana, with Volkswagen already launching some locally made cars.
Currently, Ghana has three assembling plants manned by Volkswagen, Kantanka and Japan Motors.
Recent reports indicate that Hyundai and KIA are also planning to set up assembling plants in the country this year.
In a report that highlights government’s key initiatives in the 2021 Budget Statement, Tesah Capital further sharing its outlook for the year 2021 with particular emphasis on trade and industry, noted it anticipates government to commence the construction of 49 factories under the 1D1F policy initiative to further strengthen Ghana’s industry base.
Already, some 162 factories according to the Trade Minister, Alan Kyeremanteng, have been completed and commenced full operations creating over 57,000 jobs – both direct and indirect – for the unemployed across the country.
