Zonda Tec Ghana has launched Ghana-assembled HOWO light-duty trucks for farmers and traders, a month after President John Mahama moved to tie assemblers’ tax breaks to local production.
The HOWO T3M range comes in four variants, with payloads from 2.7 tonnes to 12 tonnes, in open-bucket or cargo bodies. The Business and Financial Times (B&FT) reported that it was unveiled at an event in Dzorwulu, Accra. The company is aiming the trucks at farmers, produce aggregators, wholesalers, retailers and logistics firms, which move food from farm gate to market.
The stakes for agriculture are measurable, but only partly about transport. The African Postharvest Losses Information System (APHLIS) estimates that Ghana loses about 18 percent of its maize after harvest. In 2021 that came to 276,568 tonnes, worth more than $134 million, or about GH¢1.56 billion at the Bank of Ghana interbank rate of GH¢11.66 to the dollar on 16 October. The same data shows that most of that loss happens during harvesting and field drying, before any truck is loaded.
Zonda Tec Chief Executive Officer Yang Yang told the launch that all four payload classes were assembled in Ghana. Engineers from Chinese manufacturer Sinotruk are training local technicians. “We need to shift from trading to engineering,” she said, and she urged the government to back the auto engineering industry.
Ruby Palm, a deputy director at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, spoke on behalf of the minister. She said higher farm output must be matched by aggregation, storage, processing and distribution, according to B&FT. She asked Zonda Tec and its partners to focus on affordability, financing, spare parts and after-sales service.
That message matches the policy direction set at the company’s Tema plant on 15 September. Commissioning the plant’s third phase, Mahama announced plans for a minimum local-assembly threshold that manufacturers must meet to qualify for value added tax exemptions. He said assemblers would also be expected to source more parts locally, including batteries, tyres, wiring harnesses, seats and glass, and that details would come in the national budget. The plant employs more than 800 Ghanaians, the Ghana News Agency reported.
Sinotruk’s Chief Representative in Ghana, identified only as Mr Lu, told the launch that the company began assembling heavy-duty trucks in Ghana in 2019. It expanded capacity in 2023 and has since extended its facilities to cover light-duty models. The 2023 expansion raised the plant’s annual capacity from 850 trucks to about 3,000.
The T3M runs on a 2.98-litre, four-cylinder turbocharged diesel engine producing up to 120 horsepower and 340 newton-metres of torque, with a six-speed manual gearbox. It has a 120-litre fuel tank, air conditioning, compressed-air brakes and an exhaust brake, according to specifications published by B&FT. The company said specifications may vary by configuration.
Cost remains the open question for smallholders, and reports of the launch carried no prices. At the September commissioning, Mahama proposed a salary-deduction payment plan to help workers buy locally assembled vehicles.
Source:https://newsghana.com.gh
