Electric bike manufacturer appeals for tax reduction
Manegers of an electric bike manufacturing firm has appealed to the government to reduce taxes on imported raw materials and semi-finished parts to enable them to assemble bikes locally.
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Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of the company, WAHU Ghana, Valerie Labi, who made the appeal, said such an intervention would also make electric vehicles which do not pollute the environment more affordable.
She made the appeal at the inauguration of the company’s workshop in Accra last Friday which was attended by captains in the automobile industry, among others.
The petrol-free bikes run on two rechargeable batteries and can go up to 140 kilometres on a single charge.
Ms Labi said as a producer of electric vehicles, her company was required to pay 58 per cent tax on imported components.
Apart from that, she said, if a citizen wanted a loan from the bank to buy an electric bike, the person would need 120 per cent collateral of the amount and be prepared to pay over 30 per cent interest rate on the loan.
“How does that help affordability? I truly believe that the key to transitioning the continent to electric mobility starts by prioritising affordability,” Ms Labi said.
Some of the electric bikes on display
She said the company would create jobs for the youth in partnership with other stakeholders in the sector.
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The CEO added that her outfit had a weekly payment plan, training workshops, insurance and maintenance schedules, including “tracking all our vehicles’ real time on the road to understand rider behaviours and drive road safety”.
“With this we are creating a digital footprint of what riders earn, how they are paying off a fixed asset and how they ride,” she added.
Ms Labi said the company intended to produce 200 electric bikes every month for the domestic and international markets, with a possibility of employing more than 3,000 citizens towards the end of the year.
Commitment
The Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre, Yaw Amoateng Afriyie, underscored the government’s commitment to the manufacturing sector.
In line with that, he said, his outfit was working closely with industry players to reduce the fiscal burden on manufacturing, adding “e-mobility is foundational to that conversation because it provides a solution to air quality.
“GIPC shall continue to support the company to realise its plans to manufacture electronic vehicles,” Mr Afriyie added.