Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia says German automobile firm Volkswagen set up its assembly plant in Ghana under the One-District One-Factory Programme.
He noted that the company was able to survive, as it has already started assembling and selling its cars in Ghana, as a result of the enabling business environment created by the government.
Speaking at the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in Accra on government’s infrastructural policies in a virtual townhall meeting, Dr Bawumia said a total of 183 companies have been set up under the 1D1F Programme.
Sixty-one are existing companies, he said, explaining that those companies were given the needed capital boost to set up in districts of operation.
“If you are an existing company and you need a capital injection to expand, you can benefit from the incentives for 1D1F.
“So, don’t say that I know this company, it’s already been in existence so it cannot count. No, if it has come for support through 1D1F, it will be counted,” he said.
The Vice President said 48 of these existing companies have been completed and are in operation.
As regards the new companies, he said they total 122 with 28 completed and 31 are at various stages of completion.
Among the new companies is VW, whose franchise in Ghana is under Universal Motors Limited with Jeffrey J Oppong Peprah as the Chief Executive Officer.
“Through the 1D1F programme, the German car manufacturer Volkswagen has opened a car assembly plant in Ghana as we speak.
“They have started producing cars.”
On Monday, August 3, 2020, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo unveiled the first VW vehicle assembled in Ghana.
The car is the VW Tiguan with a promise that other models such as Teramont, Amarok, Caddy, Polo and Passat wll follow.
To Dr Bawumia, that is evidence of the fruits being yielded as a result of government’s industrial programmes.
“So the process of industrialisation and the framework that we have adopted is yielding a lot of fruits and all of these infrastructure that you are seeing, the industrial infrastructure, are as a result of the government’s incentive that are being given.”
By Emmanuel Kwame Amoh|3news.com|Ghana