Neoplan must be saved

Our front-page story of last Monday on the once vibrant Neoplan manufacturing plant was pathetic and must be the concern of not only duty bearers but also all Ghanaian citizens.

Apart from creating jobs for over 1,000 Ghanaians, thereby putting food on the table for many many families, Neoplan (Ghana) Limited has also been a source of pride for the country over the years and was, indeed, responsible for the initial success of the Metro Mass Transit (MMT), as it was the company that assembled the buses used for the government’s initiative under former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Now the management of the company has indicated that Neoplan is going to breathe its last and join the other obituaries gone before it. When that happens, the government, which is the majority shareholder, will have to pay compensation to the about 100 workers for the lay-off, according to the Labour Law, and this will further weaken the country’s finances.

In the past, the collapse of indigenous companies such as Sanyo, the Kade Match Factory, the Aboso Glass Factory, Saltpond Ceramics and a host of others was due to mismanagement, governments’ lack of interest and support, as well as lack of investment.

As a people, we have had a rethink, and that is why the current government has embarked on an industrial drive to speed up economic development and bolster employment. The Industrial Revolution is also geared towards making Ghana self-sufficient to enable us to wean ourselves off foreign aid.

This is why the Daily Graphic finds it ironic that in spite of all the efforts being made to build factories under the One-district, One-factory programme, there are some old industrial establishments in need of help that are either being denied that help or have been neglected.

Neoplan is a clear case in point, but we must not let that happen. The Daily Graphic urges the government to do the needful by offloading its shares if it does not have the muscle to continue as the majority shareholder.

We might have glossed over the challenges at Neoplan and other once buoyant companies with government stake, but we believe that it is not too late to make amends.

We wonder why we can’t have policies that will make it mandatory for government agencies to patronise goods and services provided by the government itself.

To us, there is no logic in establishing our own businesses and not patronising their products and services but instead go in for those of our competitors. Clearly, by doing that, we shoot ourselves in the foot.

A school of thought has it that the government has no business doing business, while the government has trumpeted time without number that the private sector is the engine of growth for the economy. If that is the case, then the government must take itself from businesses where it has majority shares and rather ensure that good infrastructure and policies are provided for those businesses to succeed.

While we are encouraging investors in the global automobile industry to come and set up assembly and manufacturing plants in Ghana, we should also be proud of our own and make sure that the foreign companies are not given undue advantage over our local firms.

If our local companies lack capacity, the best thing is to resource them adequately to produce up to global standards. If Neoplan is adequately resourced, it will not only produce for the Ghanaian market but also make coaches meant for the tropical terrain for the West African sub-region, as well as for the Africa market.

That will eventually inure to the benefit of the whole country in terms of foreign exchange earnings and give us pride of place on the world automobile map.