Twelve Ghanaian technicians have wrapped up three months’ training at the Nissan Rosslyn plant on the assembly of the new Navara pick-up, in anticipation of the opening of a Nissan plant in their home country next year.

The first Navara pick-ups for customers are expected to start rolling off the assembly line at Nissan South Africa from the end of this month. The vehicle will go on sale across numerous African markets in the months that follow.

“The production of a vehicle is intricate, so the training course we have been offering will not be the end of our work in supporting the Ghanaian team’s capabilities,” says Nissan South Africa plant director Shafick Solomons.

“It’s one of the many steps we are taking to support a sustainable relationship between South Africa and Ghana going forward.

“We will continue to share resources and knowledge, as well as training to make sure that the Ghanaian team is as agile and efficient as any team in the rest of the world adhering to Nissan’s global production standard – the Nissan Production Way.”

The preparation for the Ghana assembly plant follows the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Nissan and the government of Ghana in 2018.

“This is a wonderful moment for us as a global company with incredible African roots,” says Nissan Africa MD Mike Whitfield.

“We set out to build a vehicle in Africa, for Africa, by Africans, with the Navara, which we are about to achieve from our Nissan South Africa plant.

“Now we are laying the groundwork to do just that in Ghana, as we help the people and government of Ghana begin to realise their dream of creating a sustainable automotive industry in their country.

“We have always said that we wanted to work with countries on the continent [that] want to partner with us in this regard,” adds Whitfield.

“We were the first movers in Nigeria and we are looking at other countries in Africa where there is similar potential.

The Navara production facility in Ghana is located in the capital, Accra, and will be operated by Japan Motors Trading Company (JMTC).

The plant will produce Navaras from semi-knockdown kits supplied from the Rosslyn plant.

JMTC invested $3-million in the construction of the Accra facility, following Ghana’s drafting of its Automotive Development Policy to encourage investment in the sector.

“Nissan and Japan Motors support the Ghana Automotive Development Policy, which is why we want to do our part in creating jobs and stimulating African economies,” says JMTC MD Salem Kalmoni.