
Isuzu plans South Africa as hub for African truck production
Isuzu Motors South Africa president and CEO Billy Tom works on his laptop at Isuzu's distribution facility in Gqeberha, South Africa, 15 August 2025. Reuters /Nqobile Dludla
Billy Tom, president and CEO of Isuzu Motors South Africa, told Reuters he has been engaging with Japan on the plan.
"We're saying to them, instead of producing vehicles in Japan, you've got a facility in Africa. We can produce the vehicles here," Tom said.
Isuzu has done some successful trials of manufacturing a truck and its body locally, Tom said. Some of its truck bodies are imported from countries like China and the Middle East.
The company's South African plant manufactures Isuzu D-MAX pickup trucks, assembles medium-heavy and extra-heavy commercial trucks and imports the Isuzu MU-X SUV for distribution to African markets.
Its export volumes for trucks into the rest of Africa are very limited but it exports its pickups to more than 30 African countries.
"So we've targeted West Africa as a starting point and then we'll see how it goes," Tom said.
"We've been looking for opportunities in the African business. About six years ago 15% of my volumes were in Africa. That number is now 22% to 23%. Our ambition is to get that number to 45%."
Tom is hoping to take advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area, ratified by 49 countries and launched in 2021, though less than half the member states actively trade under the framework of zero tariffs.
The big seven car companies manufacturing in South Africa including Volkswagen, Toyota and Mercedes-Benz, are looking at ways to safeguard their production volumes as the influx of imports, especially from China, threaten the local industry.
South Africa's automotive masterplan has set a target of 60% local content by 2035 but has remained stagnant at 39%, Minister Parks Tau told delegates earlier in the week at an auto parts conference.
The plan also targets between 1.3 million and 1.5 million vehicles produced in South Africa by 2035 from a current average of 600,000 units.
"That threat of deindustrialisation is there and probably getting bigger as well, because if you look at the growth of what is imported into the country, that number is growing," Tom said.
Some 64% of vehicles sold in the country are imports, and Tau has said that through the country's international trade administration body, his department will probe the impact of automotive imports on local production.
Syndigate.info).
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Zawya
an hour ago
- Zawya
Call for Exhibition Opens for 6th All-Africa Intellectual Property (IP) Summit 2025 in Dakar, Senegal
African Newspage ( is the official media partner of the 6th All-Africa Intellectual Property Summit (AAIPS 2025). With Africa's knowledge economy surging—African startups raised $289 million in January 2025 alone, a 240% year-on-year increase —AAIPS 2025 provides a premier stage to display innovations, forge strategic partnerships, and amplify visibility across the continent and beyond. 6 Reasons Why Exhibit at AAIPS 2025? 1. Brand Visibility&Market Expansion Exhibitors gain direct exposure to government leaders, private sector executives, and creative industry stakeholders. Demonstrating your IP solutions face-to-face creates lasting impressions, positioning your brand with those who matter most. 2. Networking with Decisionmakers Over 300 delegates, including ministers, policymakers, investors, academics, and innovators, will attend. This unique mix enables startups, SMEs, and IP professionals to build partnerships and engage directly with potential clients and funders. 3. Policy Influence AAIPS is more than an exhibition—it is a Pan-African platform shaping the future of IP policy. Exhibitors gain a front-row seat in influencing IP policy discussions and aligning Africa's innovation ecosystem. 4. Access to Finance&New Markets Investors and development agencies will attend AAIPS 2025 seeking innovations to support. Exhibiting at the Summit will open doors to capital, joint ventures, and partnerships to scale your ideas. 5. Thought Leadership&Credibility Showcase expertise, position your brand as an IP leader, and connect with Africa's growing innovation ecosystem. 6. Learning&Feedback Engage directly with participants, gather market insights, and refine your offerings based on real-time feedback. Exhibition Zones Innovation&Technology Zone – Innovators, entrepreneurs, and creators. Cultural Heritage&Creativity Zone – Showcasing Africa's traditions and creative industries. SMEs&Industrial Innovation Zone – Startups, businesses, and research groups. Youth&Women Entrepreneurs Zone – Empowering the next generation of Africa's innovators. IP Experts&Advisory Zone – Law firms, IP consultants, and national IP offices. Intellectual Property (IP) is central to Africa's development and intra-continental trade, protecting inventions, designs, brands, and cultural expressions. The All-Africa IP Summit is not just a gathering—it is a movement to transform Africa's innovation ecosystem. Apply now to exhibit and reserve your booth in Dakar: AAIPS Exhibition Form: Deadline: August 31, 2025 Innovation isn't silent—it exhibits loudly at the All-Africa IP Summit, 6th Edition in Dakar! Distributed by APO Group on behalf of African Newspage.


Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
Taqa secures Dh8.5 billion term loan to boost liquidity and advance growth strategy
Abu Dhabi National Energy Company (Taqa), one of the largest listed integrated utilities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, on Thursday announced it has secured an Dh8.5 billion corporate term loan facility. The facility is a two-year UAE dirham-denominated floating-rate loan, with a one-year extension option. Taqa intends to utilise the facility over time in a phased manner. Emirates NBD and First Abu Dhabi Bank were mandated by Taqa to act jointly as bookrunner, mandated leader arranger and coordinator while Mashreq acted as mandated lead arranger for the term loan facility. The use of dirham funding aligns with the group's dirham-based income profile and benefits from strong local liquidity, with Eibor offering a cost advantage over international benchmarks. The transaction enhances funding optionality, diversifies liquidity sources, and supports ongoing efforts to optimise the Group's capital structure and maintain the financial flexibility required to deliver on Taqa's long-term growth strategy. Jasim Husain Thabet, Taqa's group chief executive officer and managing director, said: 'Securing this facility marks another step in delivering on Taqa's long-term growth strategy, reinforcing our ability to maintain a strong and flexible balance sheet to support future investments. This facility demonstrates our ability to access competitive funding in our domestic currency, while retaining the ability to draw down in line with our capital and investment needs. The terms reflect the strength of our credit profile and the trust placed in us by our banking partners, ensuring we have the right financial foundations to continue delivering reliable and sustainable power and water to the communities we serve.' The facility offers Taqa greater financial flexibility compared to other available sources of funding, allowing drawdowns to be aligned with the Group's cash flow and investment schedule. The two-year tenor also aligns well with Taqa's maturity profile, as the group has no corporate debt maturities scheduled in 2027. This facility complements Taqa's existing corporate funding framework, which includes a $20 billion global medium term note (GMTN) programme and a $3.5 billion revolving credit facility. Together, these instruments provide the group with a well-balanced and diversified capital structure that supports both operational resilience and future growth. The facility also reinforces Taqa's financial readiness as it continues to execute on a strategic investment programme spanning domestic and international growth opportunities across power, water, and low-carbon energy.


Khaleej Times
an hour ago
- Khaleej Times
US business activity picks up in August, factories lead the way, survey says
US business activity picked up pace in August, led by a resurgent manufacturing sector that saw the strongest growth in orders in 18 months, a purchasing managers survey showed on Thursday. S&P Global's flash US Composite PMI Output Index, which tracks the manufacturing and services sectors, increased to 55.4 this month, the highest level since December, from 55.1 in July. A reading above 50 indicates expansion in the private sector. 'A strong flash PMI reading for August adds to signs that US businesses have enjoyed a strong third quarter so far,' Chris Williamson, chief business economist for S&P Global Market Intelligence, said in a statement. 'The data are consistent with the economy expanding at a 2.5 per cent annualized rate, up from the average 1.3 per cent expansion seen over the first two quarters of the year.' The improvement came largely from the manufacturing sector, where the flash PMI surged to 53.3 - the highest since May 2022 - from 49.8 in July and defying economists' expectations for a second month of contraction. Manufacturing received a bump from new order activity at the highest since February 2024. The services sector, meanwhile, eased back to 55.4 from 55.7 in July. Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the services PMI slipping to 54.2. The survey's measure of prices paid by businesses for inputs edged up to a three-month high of 62.3 from 61.3 last month, with both the services and manufacturing sectors reporting higher costs and companies citing President Donald Trump's tariffs as the key driver behind the increase. 'Companies across both manufacturing and service sectors collectively reported the steepest rise in input prices since May and the second-largest increase since January 2023,' the report said. 'Rates of increase accelerated in both sectors.' The survey's measure of prices charged by businesses for goods and services rose to a three-year high of 59.3 in an indication that companies are increasingly passing along the costs from higher tariffs to consumers. Employment also improved, the survey showed. The composite employment index for both manufacturing and services rose to 52.8, the highest since January, from 51.5 in July.