BY Bunmi Aduloju
Jelani Aliyu, director-general, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) says in the next 10 years, 50 percent of the vehicles on Nigerian roads will be electric cars produced or assembled in the country.
According to him, the council is partnering with Jaiz Bank to allow Nigerians to buy new electric or gas vehicles on loan and spread payment over five years.
Aliyu said this while speaking to journalists in Kaduna on Wednesday.
According to Aliyu, the automotive industry thrived in Nigeria for many years but collapsed due to dependence on crude oil.
“In the 70s and 80s, Nigeria had Peugeot, Volkswagen, Anamco, Styre, Leyland, and things were looking up to, and the automotive industry was booming, with a lot of potentials,” the director-general said.
“We had brand new vehicles, and we knew nothing like imported used vehicles; everyone who could buy a new car.
“Peugeot alone had 40 percent local contents; parts were coming from here in Kaduna, in Lagos, Nnewi, and Jos, we were producing over 140,000 vehicles per year here in Nigeria, and people were buying them up.
“Then, in 1986, something very bad happened. Because we were so dependent on crude oil, the price of crude oil dropped from $27 to below $10 and that threw Nigeria into recession.
“Those Nigerians who could buy a brand new Peugeot 504 could no longer afford them.
“So, the Peugeot, the Volkswagen had to close down and a lot of those producing vehicles, not because the government said, not because the companies left, but because the market had dried up.
“So this administration said something has to be done and the NADDC got the approval of the federal executive council (FEC) to implement the National Automotive Industry Development Plan, which has five key elements including; helping to promote local production, development of infrastructure, development of standard and market development.
“As a result, we are working on ten years tax holiday for any company that comes up to produce vehicles in the country.
“Also, there is only 10 percent import duty on vehicles parts imported into the country for assembly here. And when vehicles are assembled here, they attract zero duty and levy.
“Due to these policies, a lot of companies have connected to the Nigerian automobile industry.”
According to him, the automobile companies currently producing and assembling in Nigeria, including Dangote, PAN, Honda, Elizade, Innoson, and Lanre Shittu, among others, in 2019, had invested over N500 billion in the industry.
He noted that many Nigerians are still in awe that vehicles were made in Nigeria, saying that the vehicles are of the standard with those produced around the world.
“The automobile companies presently producing in Nigeria can produce up to 400,000 vehicles per year, but they are not presently producing that, because the market is not there,” he said.
“Yet the industry has today employed up to N50,000 people, and we hope it will continue to grow.”
Aliyu said that as part of the national gas expansion programme (NGEP), the local automotive companies are now producing brand new gas-powered vehicles in Nigeria, aside from converting petrol and diesel vehicles to natural gas vehicles.
He said electric vehicles are a better option for the Nigerian environment where the culture of maintenance is low, as the vehicles do not have engines with components that require regular repairs.
According to him, the government has entered an agreement with Jaiz Bank and is in talks with Zenith and WEMA banks to enable the citizens to buy vehicles and pay in installments.
The DG allayed the fear that growing electric cars in automobiles will hurt the Nigerian economy.
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