Car parts from Dubai for Ghana: restocking Abossey Okai and Suame

A May 2026 feature in The High Street Business on how Ghana's spare parts dealers built their companies calls Dubai the spare parts capital of the Middle East and Africa and points importers to the Ras Al Khor auto market, which it describes as a vast emporium of new, used and reconditioned parts from Japan, Europe and the United States. It gives two reasons Ghanaians go there: established Ghanaian networks among the suppliers in Dubai, and direct shipping from Dubai to Tema.

The scale is large. The feature says a specialist importer handles two to three containers a month, puts a first mixed 40 ft container at GHS 300,000 to 600,000 (about USD 25,000 to 50,000 at the 12 cedis to the dollar rate the feature itself uses), and has each container sold on to 20 to 30 retailers. It also describes dealers supplying mechanics on 30 to 60 days of credit, and lists GHS 400,000 to 800,000 of working capital for the next container among its start-up costs.

Buying in person is the expensive part. The feature says importers travel to Dubai two to four times a year, and prices a trip at GHS 16,000 to 25,000, made up of a return flight at GHS 6,000 to 10,000 and ten to fourteen days of hotel and living at GHS 10,000 to 15,000. Remote restocking between those trips is the gap this page is about; it supplements the visit rather than replacing it.

The feature names Abossey Okai in Accra and Suame Magazine in Kumasi as the two major parts markets, with smaller nodes in other cities. The makes it says their dealers stock include Mercedes, BMW and Volkswagen, Toyota, Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, Hyundai and Kia, and Chinese trucks such as Foton, Dongfeng and Sinotruk. It describes the national fleet as predominantly used imports, mostly from Europe, Japan and the United States, and increasingly from China and Dubai.

The part types it lists are the everyday lines of a Ghanaian counter: brake pads, shock absorbers, suspension parts, alternators, electrical systems and sensors, headlamps and lights, bumpers and panels, water pumps and cooling parts, engine internals such as pistons, rings, bearings and gaskets, crankshafts, gearboxes, tyres and batteries, and control modules.

Toyota is the make our own export enquiries name most often. If your counter also leans on Chinese trucks or older European models, say so early, because the quote depends on what the Dubai and Sharjah yards and shops actually hold.

Easy Auto does not run the sea leg, and we do not name a shipping line or recommend an agent. Your own cargo agent or forwarder collects the goods in Dubai, builds the pallet or container and books the sailing to Tema, so the freight price and the dates are agreed between you and that agent. The feature gives direct Dubai to Tema shipping as 12 to 18 days, and clearing at the port comes after that.

The table sets out what published guides say. The container and shared-container figures come from a Dubai forwarder's undated guide and are bands for Africa in general, not a Tema card, so use them for the order of magnitude and ask your agent for the real figure. Couriers are not the lane: a 12 kg box to Ghana lists at AED 3,792.16 before fuel, and a part that small is cheaper inside a larger consignment your agent is already building.

In Ghana, vehicle spare parts sit on a regulated list. The US Commerce Department's country guide of August 2025 lists vehicle spare parts, used goods and motor vehicle batteries among the goods that need either a prior authorisation or a conformity assessment, and the Ghana Standards Authority's own import inspection page lists vehicle spare parts as high-risk goods and says importers of such goods register with the authority.

According to the same guide, high-risk goods either arrive with a certificate of conformity from an accredited laboratory in the country of origin or are inspected by the authority at the port, and under a programme called EasyPASS, either Bureau Veritas or Intertek issues a certificate that is used to help customs clearance. Whether a given used part needs one is for your clearing agent and the authority to say. Easy Auto does not issue conformity certificates.

Do not confuse this with the vehicle standard in the news. GS 4510 concerns whole used vehicles, and the Ghanaian Times reported in August 2026 that the authority will enforce it from 1 October 2026, rejecting among others vehicles older than 10 years, right-hand-drive vehicles and flood or fire damaged ones. It is a vehicle standard, sitting beside the spare-parts rules above and not replacing them.

Ghana applies the ECOWAS common external tariff, which the US guide describes as five bands: 0 percent on essential social goods, 5 percent on essential commodities, raw materials and capital goods, 10 percent on intermediate goods, 20 percent on consumer goods and 35 percent on certain goods. Which band a part falls in depends on its tariff line, and a carton of mixed parts can span several. We do not publish one percentage for car parts, and the line your clearing agent reads from the current schedule is the one to plan with.

VAT changed on 1 January 2026 under the VAT Act 2025, Act 1151. The Ghana Revenue Authority says VAT is calculated at 15 percent, with the 2.5 percent National Health Insurance Levy and the 2.5 percent GETFund Levy also calculated on the price, that the 1 percent COVID-19 levy has been abolished, and that the charge applies to the importation of goods unless exempted. Articles written before or around then still quote older figures, so check dates.

Smaller items sit beside duty and VAT. The US guide names an ECOWAS levy, an African Union levy, a processing fee, a destination inspection fee and an ICUMS charge, the last being the integrated customs system. That list is from August 2025, before the VAT change, so some entries may since have moved. Ask your agent for the assessment line by line.

Freight cards charge by weight and volume, so a heavy, valuable part carries its cost and a light one needs company. Engines and gearboxes go by sea on a pallet, and small electrical parts go in a carton alongside your agent's other freight. Ask for photographs of the actual part and its number before you accept a line.

The trade route works best for a buyer who already knows the Ras Al Khor shops. Send the lines you would buy in person, brand by brand, and a person at Easy Auto checks the yards and shops and replies with a quote that shows part numbers and quantities line by line. Our wholesale page sets out price-list requests and mixed-supplier orders in more detail.

Size the order to what you can sell through before the next one lands. A restock list for your Abossey Okai or Suame counter is not a container, and it does not need to be: start with the lines that sold out since your last trip, and keep the long tail for when you are in Dubai yourself. The Standards Authority registration, your clearing agent and the port charges at Tema all stay with you, and what you get from us is the part, its number and a quote for the part alone.

Start with where you trade: Abossey Okai, Suame Magazine or your own workshop town. That tells the person quoting whether you are buying for resale or for one customer's car, and how large the order might be. For each line, send the part name, the part number if you have it, a photograph of the old part or its label, and the make, model, year and engine code of the car. A VIN or chassis number settles fitment faster than a model name. Say whether you want used or new, and how many.

Add the name of your Dubai cargo agent. If you are already planning a Dubai trip, say so and attach the list you would carry in your pocket; the quote can then serve as your shortlist when you walk the market. A person replies, and confirms how to pay on WhatsApp once you accept.