Just found out about yet another case of local companies calling Chinese imports an indigenous development. Here they mention the case of Itaoua in Burkina Faso, but also of Innoson in Nigeria.
Claims the Welcome Africa site, in 2025, «Burkina Faso has taken a historic technological and industrial step by unveiling its first electric car designed and manufactured entirely in the country», while showing a Dongfeng EX1 or Nano Box, itself a Chinese development of the Renault Kwid. There is NOTHING African about it! Maybe, some assembly. Maybe.
Foto: File:2023 Dongfeng EX1 Nammi (Nano) Box «Wind Chaser Edition», front 8.18.23.jpg – Wikipedia.
That there is only assembly done in Burkina Faso is recognised on this post from People’s Dispatch (a left-wing propaganda outlet), citing the director-general of Itaoua, Abdoulatif Rouamba: «at the moment, the brand only handles the assembly process, but that there is a “prospect of launching our own designs in the coming years”».
Politics are not just a detail here. Itaoua is presented on many of these outlets as if it was a product of Burkina Faso’s dictator, Ibrahim Traoré, who took power in 2022 and has alligned the country to fellow dictatorships like Russia and China.
This another news piece is one example of the most egregious bullshit nationalist angle: «Burkina Faso marks a turning point in the automotive industry with the launch of ITAOUA MOTORS, its first brand of electric vehicles entirely designed and assembled locally. This ambitious project, led by Burkinabe engineers, symbolises the country’s desire to establish itself as an innovative player in the sustainable mobility sector in West Africa».
Of course, the Itoua Land Helder is simply a rebadged Radar EV Pickup from Geely. rebadged as Itoua and presented as a Burkinabe development.
It is indeed sad seeing such cheap appeals to nationalism, claiming these cars to be a national development when they are, at best, put together locally (and most or all of these, not even that).
Wonder how much of an EV charging infrastructure there is in Burkina Faso. Photos of the Land Helder come from here.
The same Autosen website that highlighted the Itaoua above here talks about Kpandji, «Innovation and Ivorian national pride» and their Djetran pickup, «Designed to meet the challenges of an environment with sometimes unpredictable roads, the first 4×4 Kpandji symbolizes a break with the massive imports of foreign vehicles».
It is a Chinese truck! And from ZX, which is not one of the better Chinese companies, as far as I know.
ripituc 
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