President Akufo-Addo says he has surprised all those who doubted the government when they signed an agreement with German automaker Volkswagen, shortened to VW to assemble cars in Ghana.
The President said this on August 3, 2020 when he unveiled the first VW-assembled car in Ghana.
The President in his speech said many doubted him when they announced the initiated in 2018 but that has now come to a reality and those who doubted him for partisan factors are now amazed.
“On Agust 30, 2018 our nation played host to the German Chancellor Angela Dorothea Merkel. She visited Ghana at my invitation and in our discussion an agreement was reached between VW and government for the assembling and production of VW vehicles here. There were many who expressed doubts about the feasibility of such an assembling plant being established in Ghana and there were those who for narrow partisan considerations described this announcement as nothing but a hoax which will never see the light of day. Two years on we have confounded the ‘Doubting Thomases’ and I am happy to have launched the first VW car assembled in Ghana.”
President Akufo-Addo also said his government will do all it can to attract more foreign automobile companies to Ghana
“We want to do much of assembling which will reduce importation of second-hand vehicles and this will also go a long way to reduce unemployment. I assure VW that the government will support them in all spheres of their work. Other automobile companies who have intentions of setting up plants will soon follow the footsteps of VW. Gov’t will continue to do it all it can to attract local and international automobile companies. I am confident that Ghana is on the cast of a bold new beginning. This is the first and many more to come, the government is bent on developing the country again.”
The global automobile giant, Volkswagen, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government of Ghana in 2018 to begin the process of establishing an assembling plant in the country to serve the West African sub-regional market.
In March this year officials of the company took some Ghanaian government officials round their assembling plant in Accra.
The assembling plant in Accra is expected to produce about 5,000 units of vehicles every year with plans to increase production depending on the market demand.
