Toyota Motor has completed construction of a small factory in the western African nation of Ghana to assemble vehicles from imported semi-knocked down (SKD) kits, according to reports.
At the opening ceremony earlier this week, the country’s president Nana Akuffo-Addo said this was the second vehicle plant to be completed in the country in less than a year, as “global automakers wake up to the growth potential in African markets”.
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The automaker was said to have invested an initial US$7m in the facility which has an initial assembly capacity of around 1,500 units per year.
Last August, Volkswagen’s local distributor, Universal Motors, completed construction of a slightly larger 5,000 unit/year vehicle assembly facility in the capital city Accra.
Locally-assembled vehicles incur lower import tariffs, making them more affordable and also more competitive against used imports which have until now dominated this market.
The president said the country was making available generous fiscal incentives to investors, as it wants to reduce imports of used and new vehicles and also to open up potential for exports to neighbouring countries.
The government passed a law banning imports of used vehicles older than 10 years last October, but its implementation has suspended because of fears of job losses.
