Beyond assembly: Building Ghana’s automotive industry

Ghana's automotive industry holds significant potential, but a recent visit by Vice President Prof. Naana Jane Opoku-Agyemang to Zonda Tec Ghana Limited's assembly yard has highlighted the critical need to transition from simple vehicle assembly to genuine local manufacturing. Witnessing the round-the-clock operations of the assembly plant was encouraging, demonstrating the feasibility of the government's 24-hour economy agenda in translating into tangible industrial activity, job creation, and business opportunities.

However, the Vice President rightly challenged Zonda Tec Ghana Limited to identify specific vehicle components that could be manufactured locally. This points to a larger, more crucial question: how much of the value generated by Ghana's automotive sector will actually benefit the nation? For too long, Ghana has relied on importing finished goods and performing local assembly, often celebrating this activity as industrialization. True industrialization, however, necessitates deeper local participation, including the development of skills, technology, suppliers, and supporting industries required to produce more of the components that make up the final product.

The automotive sector offers a prime opportunity to achieve this. While vehicle assembly creates jobs, the local production of components can generate a far greater number of opportunities for small and medium-sized enterprises, engineers, technicians, and artisans. Components such as seats, batteries, wiring systems, tires, glass, and metal parts could serve as the foundation for building a robust local supply chain. This, in turn, could empower Ghanaian companies to become suppliers to major vehicle manufacturers, rather than remaining primarily consumers of imported parts.

Therefore, the Vice President's call must extend beyond the Zonda Tec facility. The government needs to actively collaborate with vehicle assemblers, universities, technical universities, and vocational training institutions to pinpoint components that can realistically be produced within Ghana. This initiative requires deliberate planning, adequate funding, and supportive incentives. Equally critical is the issue of skills development. Prof. Opoku-Agyemang's request for Zonda Tec to detail its skill requirements is a vital first step. Ghana cannot establish a competitive automotive industry if its local workforce lacks the necessary skills for the jobs being created. The government must ensure that this information directly informs training programs and curricula, equipping young Ghanaians with skills relevant to the industry's needs, rather than simply providing certificates disconnected from market demands. The success of the 24-hour economy should ultimately be measured by sustainable job growth, the expansion of local enterprises, the volume of domestically manufactured goods, and a reduced dependence on imports.