The second phase of the Volkswagen (VW) car assembling plant is expected to produce an average of 10,000 to 20,000 cars in Ghana annually.

This was revealed in a statement by the Ghana Investment Promotion Centre (GIPC) attributing data from the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI).

According to the GIPC, the second phase of the car assembling roll out in Ghana will be worth US$22 million.

“In the coming-months, the company is expected to roll out a second phase worth US$22 million to produce an average of 10,000-20,000 cars annually according to data by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI),” the statement said.

Meanwhile, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in August last month unveiled the first six models of VW cars assembled in Ghana with the first phase of the project valued at US$10.5 million.

The unveiling follows the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Ghana and Volkswagen aimed at establishing a vehicle assembly plant in Ghana.

The president in his State of the Nation Address in February this year announced VW was due to start production by the end of April 2020.

With the Chinese company, Sinotruk, already engaged in the assembly of trucks in Ghana, President Akufo-Addo said he was hopeful that other global automobile companies, which have indicated their preparedness to set-up shop in Ghana, will soon follow.

The Minister of Trade and Industry, Alan Kyeremanten, however, in June this year visited the assembling plant of Volkswagen (VW) at the North Industrial Area in Accra, to have a first-hand insight regarding the ongoing work of the automobile giant.

The establishment of these assembling plants, according to President Akufo-Addo will create thousands of jobs for Ghanaians, particularly mechanical and electrical engineers.

Ghana’s vehicle imports is currently among the top three import commodity items in the country. This was represented at 12.5 percent of the nation’s total import bill for 2018 which was estimated to be around US$12 billion.

This however clearly depicts a very high demand and market for vehicles in the country.