The National Automotive and Design Development Council has said that the Council recently partnered with the Bank of Industry, Jaiz Bank and other stakeholders to finance the manufacturing of made-in-Nigerian vehicles.
Director General, NADDC, Aliyu Jelani, disclosed this in an interview with The Point at the weekend, saying that the partnership would start to manifest in the next two months and that and would allow Nigerians to make payment in the installment of 10 percent or less, to purchase a new made-in-Nigeria vehicle.
He said under the new order, other payments would be made over a number of years as opposed to the 28 percent that was operational, which will spur local capacity and support the production of vehicles in the country.
According to him, “in other countries, people put down 15 percent part-payment and drive off with the vehicle, only to pay after a number of years.” This, he said, is technically non-existent in the country.
“Presently, we are building three automotive test centres; we are about 85 per cent complete, and we have one in Lagos to test emission, the second in Enugu to test components and the third in Zaria for materials.
“By the time these test centres are on line, any vehicle or component that is made, sold or brought into the country must be certified by NADDC before it can go to the market. This is to ensure that Nigerians only have high standard of components,” he said
Jelani further explained: “Nigerians face a lot of problems when something goes wrong with their vehicles. Most mechanics in Nigeria, today, are not qualified enough to diagnose the vehicles; so the vehicle is either not properly fixed or made worse. Even when they understand what the problem is, the parts itself are substandard. They either bring in brand new substandard parts or used parts.”
He said it was on this strength that the Council came into action and began to bring back car manufacturing, and as a result of that, Innosen sprung up, Hyundai came into the country, and Peugeot was revived.
“Innosen is doing very well; the Nigerian Automobile Industry Bill is working towards discouraging importation and supporting local production; as a result, we now have a number of manufacturers and producers in Nigeria.
“We are all aware of the huge challenge we have with electricity, water and connectivity in Nigeria. The NAIDB also have what we call, structure development.
“We are currently in the process of building three industrial parks in Kaduna, Osogbo and Nnewi, the one in Nnewi is most advanced, we already have a master plan done and we are working with Bank of Industry, Jaiz Bank and a number of stakeholders. Also, we have discussed with a lot of manufacturers who will plug in and play in such a place like Nnewi.”
Jelani said these are automotive industrial parks with the central location where allthe necessary infrastructure will be provided, such as electricity, roads and water, so that it will be easy for companies to come and set up shops.
