Volkswagen Agrees to Establish Car Assembly in Ethiopia

Addis Ababa January 28/2019 Volkswagen, the automobile giant of Germany, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) today with Ethiopian Investment Commission that will enable it establish a car assembly facility in Ethiopia.

The MoU was signed by Abebe Abebayehu, Commissioner of EIC and Thomas Schaefer, Head of Volkswagen Sub-Saharan African Region.

German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier witnessed the signing.

Ethiopia has become the third country in Sub-Saharan Africa to sign MoU with Volkswagen to start casr assembly in the last six months after Ghana and Nigeria.

The MoU paves way for Volkswagen and the Ethiopian government to jointly deliver on the vision of developing a suitable and vertically integrated automotive industry cluster in Ethiopia.

Speaking at the occasion, EIC Commissioner Abebe Abebayehu affirmed that the government of Ethiopia is fully committed to support the establishment of specialized clusters.

He also pledged that the nation will work proactively with Volkswagen and all key government agencies to effectively translate this partnership into concrete action and actual investments.

Thomas Schaefer, Head of Volkswagen Sub-Saharan African Region appreciated the government of Ethiopia for its support and identifying the automotive sector as one of the key manufacturing industries.

He added that the MoU has been signed with Ethiopia is a demonstration that Volkswagen is gaining momentum in the Sub-Saharan region. 

“As one of the fastest growing economies and with the highest population in the continent, Ethiopia is an ideal country to advance Volkswagen’s Sub-Saharan Africa development strategy, he stated.