Auto policy must look beyond tax incentives

On August 3, last year, the national automotive policy chalked up its first tangible success when the local unit of German car maker, Volkswagen (VW) unveiled six vehicle models that it assembled locally.

The event was a source of national pride and personal gratification for the lead champions of the Ghana Automotive Development Policy (GADP).

It was the pinnacle of months of indoor discussions and simulations that led to the development of the Ghana Automotive Development Policy (GADP) as a blueprint to making Accra a fully integrated and competitive industrial hub for the automobile business in the sub-region and Africa as a whole.

That pride was boldly imprinted in the iconic smiles of President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo when he sat in one of the first-ever Ghana-made VW vehicles for a maiden symbolic test-drive.

For a champion of local goods, this was one clear testament that good policies produce tangible results and the presence of locally assembled VW vehicles on record time should be enough motivation to speed up the implementation of the auto policy.

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