The Driver and Vehicle Licencing Authority (DVLA) is to produce and emboss its own number plates and will not rely on third parties or import number plates again.
In that regard, the DVLA has initiated the construction of a vehicle number plate manufacturing centre in Accra.
Hosted on the premises of the Greater Accra Regional office of the DVLA, the centre will be completed in three months to start producing the new number plates embedded with Radio Frequency Identification (RFID).
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of DVLA, Julius Neequaye Kortey, on Friday (August 28, 2026) cut the sod to signify the beginning of construction works on the vehicle plate manufacturing centre.
Mr Kortey explained that the vehicle plate manufacturing centre was part of the DVLA's transformational reforms meant to improve the security of number plates used in Ghana.
"The sod that has been cut today demonstrates the government's commitment to reposition the DVLA as a key institution in the road transport sector," he said.
He said when completed and operationalised, the center would ensure the supply of high-quality number plates and curb the influx of fake ones in the system.
Paradigm shift
The DVLA CEO said the vehicle plate manufacturing centre initiative was the strongest indication that the authority was moving steadily towards becoming modern, self-reliant and a strong state institution capable of providing essential services in the transport sector.
"When we manufacture our plates, we will distribute them to our offices for embossment," he said, adding that such a move would take the service closer to the people.
He explained that every region across the country would be given an embossment machine while Greater Accra and Ashanti regions would get five and three machines respectively, because of the magnitude of cars there.
Mr Kotey said the DVLA's decision to manufacture and emboss number plates was not targeted at depriving private embossers their source of livelihood.
"What we are saying is that the era where anyone gets the means to manufacture or emboss number plates is a thing of the past. DVLA will regulate embossers to do things right," he said.
He stressed that the embossers would be spread across the country to ensure that only qualified people embossed quality number plates.
Background
The DVLA currently does not manufacture or emboss number plates. The number plates are imported or produced by third parties.
However, there are concerns about the quality of some of the number plates. Also, there are concerns about the influx of fake number plates in the system.
