Local automobile company Kantanka has expressed concerns over what they believe is the hasty approach government has resorted in signing the agreement for the establishment of an assembling plant of German car giant VW in Ghana.
According to Katanka, government failed to do the necessary stakeholder consultation before signing the deal.
In a statement Kantanka said although they are not against the coming of VW into the Ghanaian market, they hoped the government had attached speed and relevance to the numerous proposals that they have submitted to it like it did in the case of VW.
“We want to state emphatically that we welcome the news of VW setting up a plant here in Ghana. We are not against it. We are aware there will be competition, as there has always been and this is going to give us the marginal propensity to work hard and achieve our long term goals for mother Ghana and Africa.
“However, we are of the view that government has hastily signed the agreement without broad stakeholder consultations.
“We are shocked to learn that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is part of this deal and want to question the Minister’s position in the promotion of trade and industry in Ghana vis-à-vis the local automotive industry,” Katanka bemoaned.
VW is set to begin operations in Ghana by next year. The deal was announced by the German Chancellor Angela Merkel when she visited President Akufo-Addo last week.
Below are details of the statement by Kantanka
PRESS STATEMENT BY KANTANKA AUTOMOBILE ON THE SETTING UP OF
VW’S ASSEMBLY PLANT IN GHANA.
Our attention has been drawn to the Daily Graphic publication on Friday August 30,2018 captioned “President Akufo-Addo lauds VW’s decision to set up Assembly Plant in Ghana” duringthe German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s brief visit to Ghana on Thursday, August 29, 2018
The paper stated that the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the establishment of the automobile assembly plant was signed between Volkswagen (VW) and Ghana’s Ministry of Trade and Industry.
Prior to the visit of the German Chancellor, the Senior Minister, Yaw Osafo-Maafo, in a press briefing at the recently held Graphic / Stanbic Breakfast Meeting at La Palm Hotel on August 1, 2018 stated and it was reported by the Daily Graphic of August 2, 2018 that, two international automobile companies are expected to set up their plants in the country to assemble their brand of vehicles.
Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo again stated that two separate MoUs were submitted to the government and government has fast-tracked the signing of the MoUs to expedite the setting up of the plants.
Senior Minister Yaw Osafo-Maafo further stated that “in the MoU which was currently being reviewed was a request that “of course government buys a certain amount of the cars”
We want to state emphatically that we welcome the news of VW setting up a plant here in Ghana. We are not against it. We are aware there will be competition, as there has always been and this is going to give us the marginal propensity to work hard and achieve our long term goals for mother Ghana and Africa.
However, we are of the view that government has hastily signed the agreement without broad stakeholder consultations.
We are shocked to learn that the Ministry of Trade and Industry is part of this deal and want to question the Minister’s position in the promotion of trade and industry in Ghana vis-à-vis the local automotive industry.
We are also shocked to learn that government has fast-tracked the signing of the MoU and want to ask the sector minister, still the Minister of Trade and Industry and again his Senior Minister the last time they have fast-tracked any of the numerous proposals that we have submitted to their offices.
We are again shocked that in the MoU, government has agreed to buy “a certain amount of the cars”from the companies yet to be established and want to ask the Senior Minister if Kantanka has ever been given that opportunity.
We want to find out:
i.Under which policies are the international companies going to operate?
Under which Custom Procedure Code (CPC) are their knock downs going to be treated?
iii. Under which tax and duty regimes are they going to be classified?
We want to remind all Ghanaians once again that Kantanka is not against the setting up of auto assembly plants in the country but nostalgic memories are that we have seen Nissan here in the early 70s, DAF and Neoplan existed and when the going got tough they closed down and left us. Kantanka has come to stay.
God bless our homeland Ghana and make Kantanka greater and stronger.
MANAGEMENT
KANTANKA AUTOMOBILE CO. LTD.
1ST SEPTEMBER, 2018
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thanks for sharing this information this info is too good for me and the way you tell us is excellent keep posting these type of posts
You think we are in Monopolistic era. We can't allow one company to cheat the system. The government can only provide some tax reliefs and other exemptions but not the way you want it. Can you alone solve the unemployment situation? Greedyyyy Africans
You people talk about Toyata, Honda, and other car brands with no Idea how these companies started and the massive financial support the got from their Government and country before they became a global brands. How did China, Korea, Japan and other develop the we always go begin them for money? If out government will not directly support any made in Ghana company, then we will remain poor like this forever. This is why Africa will forever beg for money from white people. Envy and Jealousy all the way.
All these supposed experts on here, how many of you have built or even assembled bicycles forgive my bluntness? For those saying target low income segment, that was not the tesla business model nor the Mercedes approach. They are not daft the Kantanka group; the forbear counsels his son and he has been able to succeed in Ghana from scratch in farming and other sectors let alone this car sector. So we should be encouraging and less critical of our own as Ghanaians. When you are voting for people vote for people who really care about Ghana not selfish leaders...PS I could care less about NDC or NPP, ghanaians have given them the stand to abuse you regardless of who is in power. Might be best we try another party altogether I'll say.
Safo Jnr, am proud of whatever is made in Ghana, and very proud of course on what the Safo conglomerate is doing. However, this time i think you might have gotten it wrong by producing luxurious vehicles. How many people in ghana would be able to afford the kind of cars you bring to the market. When Hyundai and Kia came to the market, they produced cheaper cars before moving on to the moderate market type of cars. Please go back to the drawing board and produce affordable vehicles and i can assure you that, no company can compete with you in Africa.....all the best...long live made in Ghana goods
You too go and sit somewhere, you have had all the publicity needed in the Ghana; what did you do with it? "K-ono*ngo Ka_ya"
German cars are luxry cars and they dont target ordinary people. How many Ghanains use German cars? Thid is a plant that will be serving the West African market and if we dont take it they will rather build it in Nigeria or elswhere.
Mr. Safo Jnr. you have missed it.I have been following your Dad 'since' but I will like to be frank to you are doing soo many things at a go to show off. You need a stragegic plan to get going and be focussed.I will suggest you start with one brand of a car for a target group.There are soo many target group you can pick.One classic group that can make huge income for your company is Taxi and uber business.Make a decent,attractive and strong cars for them and I bet you they will dump their old dirty cars for yours at a resonable price tag. Don't give up and don't blame anybody for your woes.Persevere should be your hallmark and the crown will be yours. You know your Dad is with a different generation and he can't march the current trend in coporate world.You have to take the mantle and push the agenda in strict corporate world.You are cutting your own nose to tease your face.Please you can't fight processes and procedures.Get the right people to talk for you.You must be professional.This is a great opportunity for you.Your dad has done his best to open our eyes. Do you know the amount of Jobs to be created in Ghana by VW and their Ghanaian partners. I hope the next time I hear from you it will be professinalism at it best. I wish you all the best.
With foreign trade policies, the government can't ban foreign cars but we can make a law for all government departments to use Katanka cars like how it's done in America. The police cars, every government car should be katanka. Also tax incentives etc.
In America foreign cars are even bought more than American cars because American cars on the average are built to be bigger, with bigger engines, and more expensive than Japanese cars on the average. With global trade the government can't stop foreign products. What it the government can do is give tax incentives to local ones.