Volkswagen Ghana and BlackIvy Ghana have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to collaborate towards the mutual goal of sustainable mobility, green growth and more affordable cars and homes in Ghana. BlackIvy Ghana is a subsidiary of BlackIvy LLC, a U.S. company that builds and grows commercial enterprises across Sub-Saharan Africa. BlackIvy Ghana operates businesses in housing, healthcare, warehousing and industrial real estate.
The strategic collaboration between BlackIvy Ghana and Volkswagen Ghana was signed on 16 September in Accra in the presence of His Excellency, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, Vice President of the Republic of Ghana, and the Hon. Robert Ahomka-Lindsay, Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry. The collaboration follows the official launch of local assembly of vehicles by Volkswagen Ghana in August this year.
Volkswagen and BlackIvy are collaborating to: increase affordability of homes and passenger vehicles in Ghana; provide modern and green mobility, and promote a larger value chain for the automotive manufacturing industry at BlackIvy’s WestPark Industrial Park in Ghana’s resource-rich Western Region.
The partners’ plans for sustainable mobility including assessing the viability of reducing carbon emissions by piloting a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) filling station for trucks and commercial vehicles. This pilot would be the first CNG filling station in West Africa, while a fleet of CNG trucks could save on logistics cost, reduce carbon emissions by up to 20%, and decrease harmful particles, a driver of air pollution and associated health risks, by approximately 85%.
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Long-term, the partnership could deliver Volkswagen electric vehicles and the associated charging infrastructure to Ghana.
“The strategic partnership we formed today with BlackIvy is part of Volkswagen’s greater goal of growing its presence in the Sub-Saharan region, in a way that benefits the citizens of this region,” said Rochelle Reddy, Volkswagen Group South Africa’s Director of Sub-Saharan Africa Operations. “With BlackIvy, we have found a partner with the same values. This agreement paves the way for sustainable and accessible mobility in Ghana.”
“BlackIvy launched in Ghana six years ago to deliver essential products and services with a relentless focus on quality. In Volkswagen, we have found a partner that shares our commitment to Ghana made craftsmanship and innovation,” said Jean-Louis Warnholz, BlackIvy’s Managing Director. “We are excited to join Ghana and Volkswagen in developing smart, sustainable industries that create new economic engines for growth for the country.”
Volkswagen is strengthening the regions and focusing on new up-and-coming markets as part of its TRANSFORM 2025+ brand strategy. Alongside North and South America as well as China, the Sub-Saharan Africa region plays an increasingly important role. Although the African automotive market is comparatively small today, the Sub-Sahara region has the potential to develop into an automotive growth market of the future.
Original article on Botswana Unplugged
