By Justice Lee Adoboe
China and African countries are seeking more opportunities for cooperation in electric vehicle (EV) development and manufacturing.
During the 2025 China-Africa Automotive Development Forum held in Ghana earlier this week, experts, policymakers, investors, and engineers from China and African countries shared their views on the necessity and feasibility of EV development in Africa’s automotive industry.
Kojo Annobil, director at the Ghana Automotive Development Center (GADC), told Xinhua that Ghana would leverage its strong relations with China to include EVs in its automotive industry development agenda.
In line with the new agenda, Ghana would revise its automotive development policy to make room for EV development in the country, he said.
Under the revised policy, Annobil said the GADC would work with the government to introduce tax incentives on the importation of EV components that cannot be produced locally to make the final products more affordable to Ghanaians and promote EVs in the country.
The revised policy would also capture knowledge transfer to enable the training of a pool of local engineers and technicians specialized in EVs, according to Annobil. “What we have to do is strengthen relationships with China and see how we can further the technology transfer going forward,” he said.
Seth Mahu, director in charge of renewable energy at the Ghanaian Ministry of Energy and Green Transition, said in a statement that Ghana has laid the groundwork for the manufacture of EVs.
He said that with at least eight vehicle assembly plants in the country, including a Chinese company and a local entity, Ghana is now ready for the next step from assembling combustion vehicles to designing and producing EVs, tailored for African roads, powered by African minds, and built with African hands.
On infrastructure, he said that Ghana is expanding the national EV charging network with solar-grid hybrid models to ensure resilience and sustainability.
“With Ghana’s abundant solar potential, our future charging infrastructure will not just be functional. It will be clean, decentralized, and smart. We plan to deploy, over the next five years, at least 100 rapid charging stations nationwide,” the official added.
Besides Ghana, Nigeria has also been paving the way for the green transition of the automotive industry.
At the forum, Philip Iorliam Ianna, Nigerian engineer at the National Automotive Design and Development Council, revealed that Nigeria has pledged to achieve 100 percent in EV adoption by 2060, while vowing to reduce import duties and exempt value-added tax on EVs.
Ianna noted that over 20 Nigerian companies are engaged in EV manufacturing, primarily focusing on electric two-wheelers. Although full-scale local production remains limited, these firms have laid the groundwork for expanding domestic capabilities, he said, expressing expectations of further collaboration with China in the area.
Yang Yang, managing director of Zonda Tec Ghana Limited, a Chinese vehicle assembly plant in Ghana, announced that her company would soon start assembling EVs locally.
“We are now building a state-of-the-art assembly plant dedicated to EVs, a game-changer that will put Ghana on the map as a leader in sustainable mobility,” Yang said.
Yang pledged efforts to synergize China’s world-leading new energy vehicle (NEV) technologies with localized operational expertise, as well as capitalize on China’s NEV sector growth and battery supply chain dominance to meet African market demands.
She added that this new EV plant is more than just a factory; it is about creating vehicles that are affordable, reliable, and environmentally friendly, designed with African roads and African lives in mind.
During the forum, multiple scholars and engineers from countries including China, Ghana, Kenya, and Nigeria presented their research projects in advanced EV technologies, while an exhibition mounted by Chinese auto companies showcased their newest brands. Enditem
Source: Xinhua
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