Ernest Kofi Adu
4 August 2008
Kumasi — A US$6 billion company, Mahindra & Mahindra Limited, will soon start assembling about 100 tractors in Ghana, with the support of local artisans from the Suame Magazine in Kumasi.
The tractors, which will be customized to suit the preference of agriculture in the country, are expected to help farmers boost their output, thereby tackling food shortages and soaring prices.
The move was a collaborative effort, by the Zoomlion Company Limited, the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade, Industry, Private Sector and PSI, as well as the 50-year-old Indian company, which currently has four assembly plants in Africa, and three in the United States of America (USA).
As part of the package, 10 members of the Ghana National Association of Garages at Suame Magazine will be taken to Mumbai in India, for training to become trainers, and train the rest of their counterparts, for the new Mahindra Ghana Company to commence work in September this year.
Mr. Jaspinder Kang, Mahindra's Vice President in charge of International Operations, told the Ashanti Regional Minister, Emmanuel Owusu-Ansah, during a courtesy call that 100 knockdown tractors were already in the country, for assembling at the Suame Foundry at Ahensan, behind the Coca-Cola Bottling Company.
According to him, they intended to use Ghana as a base, to export tractors to other neighbouring countries in the West African Sub-Region, while assuring quality of service and maintenance work, for the tractors to be assembled.
Mr. Owusu-Ansah was full of praise for the company, and assured it of the government's cooperation, to ensure sustainability.
The Chairman of Garages, Nana Oppong, also expressed gratitude to Mahindra, for the collaboration and recognition of expertise of the indigenous artisans, in that direction.
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