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The *vehicle in the picture* may not be the most sophisticated; in fact, it was not made today.
This is the car Ghana made.
It was named *Boafo* and it had a twin whose name was *Adom.*
Of course, it was conceived more than 50 years ago.
In Ghana’s First Republic, a period that saw a flowering of the African genius, President *Kwame Nkrumah* called to his office, heads of the country’s vehicle importing multi-nationals and gave them a sense of his vision.
In his mind’s eye, he could see *Made-in-Ghana vehicles.* The idea was for the future. For a start, however, he asked them: *”How about bringing in the parts to be assembled here?”*
Forward-looking companies such as *UAC* (now Unilever) and *R.T Briscoe* took him up on it, set up *vehicle assembly plants, and employed graduates* from the Engineering Department of the then University of Science and Technology. One of those graduates was *Paul Victor (P.V.) Obeng*
The idea was to use these assembly plants as *Research and Development (R&D) units to transfer technology* — as China was to do much later, in the 1980s.
Many of the vehicles were rolled out of the *assembly plant and used, primarily to cart goods*, such as lumber from the then popular Accra Timber Market and fish from the Tema Fishing Harbour.
The *1966 coup* truncated that process, but the seed kept germinating. It bore fruit under the leadership of General *Kutu Acheampong.*
The *P.V. Obengs* of yesterday are the *Ave Kludzes and Ashitey Trebbi Ollenus* of today, two Ghanaian rocket scientists whose brains fly America to space.
The *African genius of the 60s* was no fluke. Ghana went on to manufacture *yachts* at the Elmina Boatyard. My information is that in addition to manufacturing deep-sea fishing vessels, *Ghana was exporting boats.*
That is a contrast to the *present era* when we need foreign exchange to import boats to replace the likes of *‘MV Dodi Princess’* on which Ghanaian tourists can cruise to the Dwarf Island or for Volta Lake transportation.
For those unborn in the 1960s, I will repeat what I wrote three weeks ago. *Ghana was manufacturing glass and bottles* at Aboso in the Western Region; *corned beef* in the Northern Region; *shoes and boots* for the security agencies; *matches* at Kade.
Look, my friend, 62 years ago Ghana set up *the Atomic Energy Commission* at Kwabenya to be responsible for all matters relating to peaceful uses of atomic energy, and the *National Nuclear Research Institute.*
So why don’t we do so today?
The answer is simple: *We don’t believe in ourselves any more*.
We do not lack scientists, but we *lack leaders that can put science and scientists to use.* That is why we are starving our scientists and researchers of funds.
Don’t tell me we could not manage those factories. Too eager to prove (and confirm to the West – USA and UK) that Kwame Nkrumah was wrong, we took *Science, Technology and Innovation* not only from the front burner but out of the kitchen altogether.
Today, Ghanaians gaze, wide-eyed, at the “miracle” of South Korea, Singapore and China. Just imagine that 46 years ago, *our Boafo and Adom were a “miracle”* to the Chinese from whom we import the *tricycles* that have become a wonder to us today.
By *Enimil Ashon*
graphic.com.gh/features/features/ghana-news-the-car-ghana-built-40-years-ago.html
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This is such a valuable article! I really like how you’ve managed to explain the topic in a clear and practical way—it feels authentic and easy to relate to. Reading it gave me some new perspectives that I can actually apply. I’m especially interested in content like this because at meinestadtkleinanzeigen.de we’re running a classifieds and directory platform in Germany that connects people with services, businesses, and opportunities across many categories. Insights like yours remind me how powerful it is when knowledge and connections come together. Thanks for sharing—looking forward to more of your work!
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Great article, thanks for sharing such valuable insights! I really appreciate the way you explained the topic so clearly and made it easy to understand. It’s rare to find content that is both informative and practical like this. By the way, I recently came across a helpful platform called profis-vor-ort.de — it connects people quickly with local experts and services in Germany. I think it could be a great resource for anyone interested in finding trustworthy professionals nearby. Keep up the great work, I’ll definitely be following your future posts!