Africa-Press – Ghana. Mr Jeffery Oppong Peprah, Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen Ghana, has said local assembly of vehicles is essential for Ghana to build a self-sustaining domestic used car market.
He made the statement at the company’s 5th Anniversary celebration in Accra, which featured a showcase of its locally assembled vehicles.
Mr Peprah acknowledged the challenges facing the local automotive industry, noting that the dominant culture of importing used cars remained the greatest obstacle to growth.
He said the current shift from reliance on imported used cars was a difficult but needed transition.
Mr Peprah stated that a key long-term benefit would be the creation of a known, local supply of used vehicles to ensure affordability for Ghanaians.
He admitted that the shift could cause economic disruption to the existing used car import sector but described it as an “all-on-board movement” requiring collaboration between government, the public, and industry stakeholders.
Mr Peprah said while some jobs in the current used car trade might be affected, the broader local automotive industry would ultimately create more skilled employment through technology transfer and a larger industrial value chain.
He noted that despite producing over 2,600 vehicles since 2020 at its Tema facility, VW Ghana, which has an annual capacity of 5,000 units, low patronage due to financing challenges continued to constrain production.
Mr Peprah reaffirmed Ghana’s role in Volkswagen’s strategic plan to establish a regional hub in West Africa, aligned with the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) framework.
Used car imports have historically accounted for over 70 per cent of all vehicle registrations in Ghana.
Between 2015 and 2018, the country imported an average of 100,000 used vehicles annually, making it one of the largest used car markets in West Africa.
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