Nissan signs MoU to build assembly plant in Ghana

Japanese multinational automobile manufacturer, Nissan have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Ghana to establish an assembly plant in the country.

According to a Reuters report, the deal was signed on Tuesday between Ghana's Ministry of Trade and Industry and Nissan.

Nissan, which leads new car sales in Ghana with a 32 per cent market share, plans to make Ghana its sales hub in West Africa, a senior company official told reporters.

Nissan becomes the second major automobile manufacturers to reach an agreement with the Ghana government to set up an assembly plant in Ghana. 

It will be recalled that on August 30, President Akufo-Addo announced a similar agreement between Volkswagen, the Government of Ghana, and a local Ghanaian company for the assembly, and, ultimately, the production of automobiles in Ghana.

President Akufo-Addo disclosed this at a joint press briefing held as part of the official visit of the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel to Ghana, on Thursday, August 30, 2018, at the Jubilee House in Accra.

Addressing the press, which comprised the local and international media, President Akufo-Addo said, “there are so many areas that our bilateral relationship has offered us, but the key part of it for me is the emphasis on investment and trade corporation.”

He emphasized Ghana’s “determination to deal with the matters confronting our country such as youth employment, the desire of our youth to seek greener pastures elsewhere by improving the management of our national economy.”

President Akufo-Addo stressed that “The stronger the economy we have, the more opportunities it gives to the young people and obviously the pressure that will be on them to embark on those hazardous undertakings will be dealt with”.

He told the press that, “in so doing we’ve set for ourselves a vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid, a Ghana which will depend more and more on mobilizing its own internal resources to confront the issues of development that there are before us.”

In all of this, President Akufo-Addo indicated that “there are a lot of opportunities here, and we are hoping that this business delegation that you have brought with you will see the opportunities that there are in several of the flagship programmes of our government, the One-District-One-Factory, the industrial parks that we are determined to create.”

Ghana's High Commission to South Africa, Mr George Ayisi-Boateng who has been engaging with the Nissan team from South Africa on the setting up of the assembly plant in Ghana expressed appreciation about the signing of the MoU.

He told Graphic Online that his vision of attracting investments to Ghana was on course with the signing of the MoU.