President Akufo-Addo with the executives of Nissan Group of Africa
Nissan Group Africa has expressed its intention to establish an automotive manufacturing company in Ghana.
This will make Ghana the hub for sales and marketing of Nissan vehicles and related products and services in West Africa.
Top officials of the company were at the Jubilee House in Accra yesterday to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the government to that effect.
The Managing Director of Nissan Group of Africa, Mike Whitfield, told President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo that the aim of the company was to be the first carmaker to assemble vehicles in Ghana.
He said Nissan, one of the leading vehicle brands in the country, aimed to build on its market leadership in the country.
According to him, Nissan models accounted for 32.8 per cent of vehicle sales in Ghana last year, with the company’s cars, pickups and SUVs sold through a national network of six sales and service outlets.
“Nissan is the most popular auto brand in Ghana because the quality of our products and services has won the trust of our customers.
“We want to build on our leadership by supporting the government to create the environment for a successful automotive manufacturing industry in the country.
“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,” he said.
On his part, President Akufo-Addo welcomed the decision by Nissan to establish an automotive manufacturing industry in Ghana.
The President explained that his administration had embarked on a journey to refocus the country from being producers and exporters of raw materials to value-addition and industrial activities.
He said the government had, for the past 22 months, been working towards strengthening the fundamentals of the economy to attract investments.
“To have an A+ company like yours in Ghana is positive, and we welcome you strongly. We hope that the MoU that will be signed will not just remain a MoU, but will translate into concrete benefits for us all,” President Akufo-Addo said.
The Minister for Trade, Alan Kyerematen, also praised Nissan’s commitment to Ghana, saying, “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.”
Nissan is a global full-line vehicle manufacturer that sells more than 60 models under the Nissan, INFINITI and Datsun brands.
In the fiscal year of 2017, the company sold 5.77 million vehicles globally, generating revenue of 11.9 trillion yen.
On April 1, 2017, the company embarked on Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, a six-year plan targeting a 30 per cent increase in annualised revenues to 16.5 trillion yen by the end of fiscal year 2022, along with cumulative free cash flow of 2.5 trillion yen.
As part of Nissan M.O.V.E. to 2022, the company plans to extend its leadership in electric vehicles, symbolised by the world’s best-selling all-electric vehicle in history, the Nissan LEAF.
Nissan’s global headquarters in Yokohama, Japan, manages operations in six regions: Asia and Oceania; Africa, the Middle East and India; China; Europe; Latin America; and North America. Nissan has partnered with French manufacturer Renault since 1999 and acquired a 34 per cent stake in Mitsubishi Motors in 2016.
Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi is today the world’s largest automotive partnership, with combined sales of more than 10.6 million vehicles in the calendar year 2017.
BY YAW KYEI
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