Ghana’s Trade Minister, Mrs Elizabeth Ofosu-Adjare, has spotlighted job creation and skills development as core to the government’s strategy for transforming the automotive sector into a driver of economic growth under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).
During a working visit to Zonda Tec Ghana Limited, a leading assembler of heavy-duty and light vehicles, the Minister praised the company’s efforts in employing over 500 Ghanaians and urged it to triple that number by implementing a three-shift system as part of Ghana’s new 24-hour economy initiative.
“In the next decade, 90% of the staff here should be Ghanaians,” Mrs Ofosu-Adjare said, advocating for deeper localisation of the industry’s workforce and a reduction in foreign labour dependency. She endorsed Zonda’s plans to establish a technical training school, citing its potential to equip local youth with the hands-on skills required to thrive in an evolving industrial landscape.
The Minister, acting on directives from the Presidency, also announced her intent to lead a delegation to China to court fresh investment into Ghana’s automotive sector. She encouraged Zonda to continue its practice of sending Ghanaian engineers abroad for specialised training.
Zonda’s Managing Director, Ms Yang Yang, affirmed the company’s commitment to human capital development, noting that Chinese engineers have been training Ghanaian staff for over six years. “Today, our employees are skilled technicians, and they’ve become valuable assets,” she said.
Beyond skills, the Minister urged all automotive firms operating in Ghana to increase their use of locally sourced components—such as tyres and batteries—to qualify for AfCFTA’s duty-free trading terms. She explained that the government is reviewing the country’s automotive policy to include trucks and other heavy-duty vehicles in the incentives framework.
Ghana’s automotive development drive, anchored in its 2019 policy and AfCFTA membership, is not only reducing reliance on used vehicle imports—estimated at 100,000 annually—but also positioning the country as a competitive manufacturing and export hub in a continent with 1.3 billion people.
Zonda assembles a variety of vehicles in Ghana, including pickups, SUVs, bulldozers, tipper trucks, trailer heads, and oil tankers. Ms Yang commended Ghana’s enabling environment and called for refined regulatory frameworks to better support heavy-duty vehicle assembly in the country.
“Buying ‘Made in Ghana’ sustains jobs, boosts tax revenue, and fuels the shift from import dependency to export-led growth,” the Minister concluded.
