VOLKSWAGEN TO SET UP PLANT IN RWANDA

A Volkswagen Tiguan, one of the VW series in a manufacturing plant. The German carmaker will soon set up an assembly plant in Rwanda.

German carmaker Volkswagen (VW) and the Government of Rwanda are set to sign an agreement today that will see the former set up an assembly plant in Rwanda to start making environment-friendly cars, The New Times has learnt.

Information from the Rwanda Development Board (RDB) indicates that the board’s Chief Executive Officer, Francis Gatare, and the Chief Executive Officer of Volkswagen South Africa, Thomas Schaefer, will sign a memorandum of Understanding (MOU) in Kigali today in the presence of Dr Herbert Diess who is the CEO of the Volkswagen brand.

The agreement will enable Volkswagen South Africa to start assembling in Rwanda cars that are easy to maintain and that are low on fuel consumption and gas emission.

“The Government of Rwanda and Volkswagen will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to develop a new concept of innovative integrated automotive mobility and thereafter build the production facility based on VW’s ThinkBlue cars,” reads a Press invite from RDB.

Established in 1946, Volkswagen Group South Africa is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen Aktiengessellschaft (VWAG) in Germany.

In South Africa, the carmaker is a major contributor to foreign direct investment, technology transfer, job creation, and skills development.

The New Times, Rwanda