The country ’s dream
of assembling and
patronizing its own
cars is still alive, says
National Automotive
Council, NAC.
NAC Director-General , Mr. Aminu Jalal , said the
country must not give up on the pursuit of its
automotive agenda .
To ensure that the dream is kept alive, Jalal said
the Council has set aside the sum of N 3 .5 billion as
seed money for a fund to be accessed at single
digit interest rate to those who purchase locally
assembled vehicles , all in the effort to encourage
Nigerians to buy made -in -Nigeria vehicles .
He said the implication of killing the dream of
Nigerian made car means that the country will
continue to fund jobs projects abroad to the tune
of over $ 3 .5 billion annually at the expense of its
teeming masses of unemployed and the existing
huge investment in manufacturing and assembly.
“The Nigerian market, estimated at N 600 billion
annually is sufficient to sustain a local automotive
industry if the investment environment is right. The
automotive technology is over a hundred years old
and no one needs to reinvent the wheel ”
He lamented that about 50 ,000 new and 150 ,000
used vehicles were imported into Nigeria yearly .
Nigerians spend an average of N 400 billion on
importing passengers’ cars and by the time you
add trucks and other vehicles , the amount
Nigerians spend on imported vehicles will be
running to N 600 billion annually, adding that the
money can be plowed into the country ’s
automotive industry.
“Apart from the existing Assembly plants with a
combined capacity of nearly 100 ,000 vehicles per
annum, there exist numerous automotive body
building facilities with impressive capacities ”.
NAC he said remains relevant because the industry
is strategic and its activities must be integrated to
be meaningful. It is essential that an agency is in
place to plan, coordinate and provide common
infrastructure just as he advised government on
appropriate policy intervention . This is the
practice in all countries that similarly aspires.
“Nigerians have mastered the act of vehicle
assembly and even the production of a long list of
automotive components and parts including all
automotive glass , brake pads , all light and
reinforced plastic parts , Seats , exhausts systems ,
fuel, air and oil Filters , some pressed parts, wire
harnesses, tyres, batteries, cables, trim etc” .
An entirely green plant , Innoson Vehicle
Manufacturing Limited , IVM , supported by NAC in
Nnewi, is recorded to have produced over 2, 000
pickups vans buses in only three (3 ) years of its
existence. The IVMs are what you would call a
Nigerian brand as they are named after the
Chairman and Chief executive – INNOSON. IVMs
have very high local content and the company
continues to pursue this program vigorously with
the support of NAC. The Council has extended
support to over 20 component manufacturers
including Dunlop which received over N 1 .4 billion
to establish its Radial Steel Truck tyres, although
the lowering of import duty on truck tyres in 2005
crippled the tyre industry.
Several motorcycle plants and indeed the first
Motorcycle Tyre manufacturing plant in Nigeria
have received NAC support . The Nigerian
Automotive Manufacturers Association, NAMA, the
Automotive Local Content
Manufacturers Association, ALCMAN, the auto
sector of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria,
MAN, can all attest to this .
Source: Vanguard
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