The government has identified the automotive industry as a vital pillar to transform the economy from one reliant on raw material exports to one driven by value added exports, the Minister of Trade and Industry, Mr Alan Kyerematen, has said.

As a result, he said the government was making the necessary investments to build the capacities and competitiveness of manufacturing enterprises to help position them for greater productivity and efficiency.

“Government has approved an Incentive Framework specially designed for the One District One Factory (1D1F) designated companies which include tax holidays, duty waivers and corporate tax, designed to help build the capacities and competitiveness of these enterprises, and to position them for greater productivity and efficiency,” he said.

Assembling

Mr Kyerematen was speaking at a ceremony in Accra to unveil the Dzorwulu office of Zonda Tec Ghana.

Zonda Tec Ghana operates a combination of automated and manual vehicle assembly plants to harness the process of vehicle assembling.

Currently the company has automated its assembly plant with assembly lines such as the trim assembly line, chassis assembly line, final assembly line and a conveyor system within the plant.

The company has so far invested more than $10 million in the construction of its assembly plant as well as a training school in Tema under the One District One Factory (1D1F) initiative.

Automotive industry

Mr Kyerematen noted that the government had targeted the automotive industry as a springboard for its industrialisation agenda, and was making significant investment to position the country as the preferred destination for the production and assembling of vehicles in Africa.

That, he said, would help the country to earn the much-needed foreign exchange to fund developmental projects.

“In the near future, we hope that Ghana will become the hub for the vehicle and automotive assembly not only in West Africa but on the whole continent of Africa,” he said.

Mr Kyerematen said with the growing demand for heavy-duty trucks arising from growth in the transport, construction, mining and other related sectors, it was encouraging that the company had positioned itself to become a major assembler and supplier of trucks in the country.

Aside from that, he said the company was also supporting artisans with technology transfer to help build their capacities to assemble high quality trucks for both the domestic and foreign markets.

Market leader

The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Zonda Tec Ghana, Mrs Yang Yang, said the company had positioned itself as a market leader in the automobile industry with undisputable customer service and competitive pricing.

“This journey began 10 years ago, precisely September 2010 when Zonda Tec was incorporated as an automobile company, and that same month and year we started operations and were determined to contribute to the successful growth of this industry,” she said.

She said working in a multicultural environment, the company had adopted the principle of determination based on a vision to become the largest vehicle supplier in west Africa and the goal to be a model in the automobile industry.

“Ten years down the lane, here we are, making giant strides and leaving footprints that will go down in history as far as this industry’s existence, with seven branches and six spare parts shops in addition to this one is concerned,” she said.

She noted that the company’s fleet of auto brands and products ranged from tipper trucks, trailer heads, cargo trucks, semi-trailers, oil and water tankers, flatbed, lowbed and concrete mixer trucks.