The
Director-General of NADDC, Jelani Aliyu, MFR, has led a delegation to South
Africa where they met and had discussions with a coalition of a number of the
world's
major Automotive OEMs, Original Equipment Manufacturers.
The
companies included BMW, Nissan, Ford, Volkswagen, Toyota and BAW. Discussions
centered on NADDC's committment and strategy on supporting these multi-national
companies to come into Nigeria and manufacture their state-of-the art vehicles
as per world standards. This would provide direct and indirect employment and
exponential economic multiplier effects.
The NADDC
delegation included the Director-General, Jelani Aliyu, Director Policy and
Planning, Luqman Mamudu, Special Advisor to the Honourable Minister of
Industry, Trade and Investment, Emeka Ifezulike and Special Advisor to the DG
NADDC, Sani Musa.
Ford and
Nissan already have production operations in Nigeria. Moving on, NADDC's
objective for the two companies is to support them in exponentially increasing
their production capacity, and also in providing more of their model range
offerings at various price points, from low cost entry levels to premium
configurations. Ford produces the Ranger at their plant in Ikeja, Lagos, a
mid-size pick-up with high capabilites and functionality.
There are
three global mega-trends in the automotive industry: 1) the electrification of
vehicles, 2) vehicle autonomy, and 3) ride sharing.
The NADDC
discussions with the automotive manufacturers touched on these three trends,
especially the electrification of vehicles. With counties such as the United
Kingdom and France setting out targets to phase out the sale of petrol and
diesel powered vehicles, Nigeria must not be left behind, and NADDC is strategizing
the development of an Electric Vehicles Policy to support the adoption of that
technology in the country.
Although
challenges exist in general power availability in the country, three important
enabling factors must be acknowledged: 1) the Nigerian Federal Government has
now allowed the establishment of private sector driven modular power
generation, 2) Nigeria is blessed with high solar insolation that must be
harnessed, and 3) NADDC is now committed to collaborating with developers of
automotive relavant sustainable energy solutions from both within Nigeria and
without.
The
delegation also visited an Automotive Industrial Park in Rosslyn, there in
South Africa, in lieu of the proposed NADDC Automotive Industrial Park for
Nnewi. NADDC is also proposing two other parks, one in Kaduna and the other in
Oshogbo.
NADDC's
committment is to work with all credible and progressive stakeholders in
enabling the Nigerian automotive sector leapfrog into a comprehensive advanced
ecosystem populated with sustainable, energy efficient and inherently safe
vehicles and transportation solutions.
This recent
NADDC engagement with world leading automotive companies is a solid strategy
towards having their most modern models produced and available in Nigeria.
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