In a recent dialogue held in Abuja and organized by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), key figures within Nigeria’s automotive industry have called for increased collaboration between component manufacturers and the federal government in order to rejuvenate vehicle component manufacturing within the country. The primary focus of the gathering was to address the current state of automotive component manufacturing in Nigeria and to outline the necessary steps needed to enhance the situation.
Speaking at the dialogue, Mr. Anslem Ilekuba, representing the Automotive Local Component Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (ALCMAN), underscored a significant decline in local component production, highlighting a decrease from 40 per cent in the 1980s to less than 10 per cent at present. He emphasized that Nigeria’s current supply of local components falls short of the AfCFTA’s 40 per cent local content requirement. He emphasized critical areas for collaboration, including the revival of manufacturing, establishing connections between local suppliers and vehicle manufacturers, identifying raw material sources, creating funding mechanisms, and cooperating on industrial infrastructure provision.
In addition, Dr. Innocent Chukwuma of Innoson Motors, representing the tire and tube component, expressed frustrations regarding the challenges faced by manufacturers across Nigeria. He detailed his experiences in establishing a tire-manufacturing factory in Enugu and highlighted significant delays encountered until receiving recent approval from the present administration. Chukwuma stressed that the factory, once operational, would create jobs and ensure tire production accessibility for all Nigerians, urging increased government support to the sector and calling for collaboration among stakeholders to position Nigeria as a leading hub for automobile production in the future.
Similarly, Mr. Chika Okafor of Chikason Group echoed these sentiments, identifying inadequate power supply, insecurity, and inconsistent government policies as major challenges affecting the automotive plastic and rubber component sector. Despite these challenges, he acknowledged the commitment of President Bola Tinubu’s administration in addressing the issues.
In response, the director-general of NADDC, Joseph Osanipin, expressed the commitment of the federal government to addressing the plights of the component manufacturers and fostering the development of the automotive industry. He outlined the strategic plan for the agency, focusing on component parts to aid the development of the automotive industry, and pushing for the transition of the nation’s vehicle assemblers from SKD to CKD auto manufacturers. Osanipin also highlighted Nigeria’s abundance of natural resources that serve as basic raw materials for the production of components parts.
Osanipin highlighted the achievements of counterpart manufacturers in South Africa, mentioning that the value of components export in 2022 was $4.312 billion, with 84,000 direct employment and 560,000 indirect employment. In contrast, he noted that vehicle ownership in Nigeria was only 6 per cent of the general population as of 2018, compared to about 17.4 per cent in South Africa. He assured stakeholders of the federal government’s commitment to addressing the challenges faced by component manufacturers and emphasized that all issues discussed would be carefully considered with action plans formulated for collaborative implementation.
The dialogue highlighted the urgent need for concerted efforts to support and revitalize Nigeria’s vehicle component manufacturing industry. With the commitment of stakeholders and the federal government, there is optimism for the resurgence of the automotive sector and the positioning of Nigeria as a prominent player in the global automobile industry.