By JAMES MUYANWA –
THE newly-formed African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM) has engaged governments in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) including Zambia on the establishment of motor vehicle manufacturing plants.
AAAM president Jeff Nemeth said the countries in SSA should create investment environments suitable for the establishment of the vehicle manufacturing plants, firstly regionally.
He said the establishment of vehicle manufacturing plants was cardinal for the countries in the sub-continent to curb the current influx of imported second-hand motor vehicles, some of which are of sub-standard.
Mr Nemeth, who is also Ford Motor Company SSA regional president and chief executive officer, said this in an interview in George Town in South Africa on the sidelines of the launch of the new 2.2-litre automatic Ford Ranger last week.
He said because of the huge amounts of various raw materials required, it would not be sustainable for individual countries to set up the plants but that a block of countries should be able to successfully do so.
“Each country can contribute towards the project by supplying given raw materials depending on what that country produces and by so doing countries will have ready market for their different products,” he said.
Mr Nemeth, who was elected on August 23, 2016, as the first AAAM president, said the association wanted to work with governments on the sub-continent on the setting up of motor vehicle manufacturing plants.
Apart from Ford Motor Company, other current members of the AAAM are BMW, Nissan, Toyota, Volkswagen and General Motors.
He said without plants churning out brand new vehicles, it would not make economic sense to discourage importation of used motor vehicles.
He said that apart from taxes, the entire policy and legal frameworks of the countries would need to be supportive towards new investments for vehicle plants to be established on a sustainable basis.
The association would work with the governments on the sub-continent to create suitable investment grounds for the setting up of motor assembly plants.
Mr Nemeth said motor assemblies are beneficial because of the multiplier effects of their existence and could, therefore, help grow the economies of the host countries as well those in the same region.