Nissan to Establish Car Manufacturing Plant in Ghana

By Masahudu Kunateh

Accra — JAPANESE global automaker, Nissan, will within the next nine months establish an assembling plant in Ghana.

The company plans to turn the country into its West Africa sales hub following a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the government on Tuesday.

"Building vehicles in Ghana will enable us to further improve the products and services we offer to our customers here and will have significant, long-term benefits for the economy in terms of jobs and growth," Mike Whitfield, Managing Director of Nissan Group of Africa, said in the capital Accra.

Whitfield explained the MoU aimed to unlock economic potential, promote development of the automotive sector and promote investor-friendly regulatory frameworks that encouraged sustainable car manufacturing in Ghana.

"We want to build on our leadership by supporting the government to create the environment for a successful automotive manufacturing industry in the country," Whitfield said.

Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanten, Ghana Minister of Trade and Industry, who signed on behalf of the government, said the agreement was in line with government efforts to diversify the country's economic and to create jobs.

"We welcome this MoU and commit ourselves in turn to working with Nissan to create the necessary environment for the level of investment that will make Ghana's automotive sector a reality," the minister added.

Nissan is the biggest car retailer in Ghana with a 32,8 percent market share.

Recently, German carmaker, Volkswagen (VW) and China's Sinotruk also signed MoU to build plants in Ghana.

Vehicle sales in Ghana have been growing steadily at an annual rate of about 10 percent to now stand at about 9,150 vehicles a year.

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