Germany\u2019s Volkswagen AG said on Thursday it would start assembling three vehicle models at a new plant in Rwanda in May for local sale and use in its own new ride-sharing service.<\/p>\n
The company said it planned to spend $20 million to start developing the assembly plant and ride-hailing service – part of a push into sub-Saharan Africa.<\/p>\n
Thomas Schaefer, chief executive of Volkswagen Group South Africa, said they were trying to wean East African drivers off second-hand imports.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are trying to break this thought-pattern that Africa is poor; they can\u2019t afford (new) cars,\u201d he told a news conference.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen will produce three models; the Hatchback Polo, the Passat and possibly the Teramont, a large sports utility vehicle, it said in a statement.<\/p>\n
The carmaker said it had registered a local company to run its ride-sharing service and signed up a local software firm to develop a smartphone application to hail rides.<\/p>\n
Global ride-sharing companies such as Uber have not yet moved into Rwanda.<\/p>\n
Volkswagen said 500-1,000 jobs would be created in the first phase of the investment, including the drivers of the first batch of cars for the ride-hailing service.<\/p>\n
Schaefer said the service will feed demand for the assembly plant, since vehicles in the scheme will be driven all the time, forcing the need for constant replacement.<\/p>\n
There were 300,000 cars in Rwanda last year, in a country of 12 million people, the CEO of the Rwanda Development Board, Clare Akamanzi, said as she welcomed the deal. Most of the cars on the roads are second-hand imports from countries such as Japan.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: Reuters<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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