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The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) is aggressively pursuing President Muhammadu Buhari’s Economic Diversification Policy as part of government’s priorities to diversify from crude oil export into other sectors including agricultural, industry, mining and tourism.
According to the NADDC’s Director General, Jelani Aliyu, the agency’s policy thrust is driven by the government’s agenda for economic diversification.
His words: “When you talk about the industry, no other sector can play important role as an automotive sector, that is why we are excited and proud to be one of the 17 Parastatals under Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and investment, saddled with responsibility of developing local automotive sector by implementing National Automotive Industrial Development Plan (NAIDP) which has five key elements.”
During a recent media interaction in his office in Abuja, He said the five key components includes; Investment Promotion, Infrastructural Development, Improvement of Standard, Skills Development as well as Market Development.
He further explained that these key areas of NAIDP focus on reviving, developing and sustaining local automotive industry in terms of production of vehicles and its components in Nigeria. The NADDC has already firmed up a blueprint on achieving government’s goals through series of projects targeting job creation, and local content development in the automotive industry.
“When we talk about NAIDP, the important pillar is skills development, as you are aware the present administration is committed to lift 100 million people out of poverty in the next 10 years and we can achieve that by creating jobs, building more Industries, getting people engaged in more productive lives.
“That is why we are building seven training centres in each geo- political zone of the country, so as to empower youth across the country. Some of these Automotive Training Centres are already completed and are in the process of getting all the necessary equipment in place and those haven’t been completed would be completed soon,” added the NADDC’s boss.
Automotive Hubs
According to him, the council is constructing three automotive hubs in Sokoto, Ondo and Owerri and these centres would be equipped with all the necessary equipment and highly professional staff who will be able to diagnose any vehicle, maintain or repair it.
“With such projects, I can say that we have 10 very important projects that are contributing towards fulfilling President Muhammadu Buhari’s promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next ten years,”
Another key component of the NAIDP is investment into the automotive sector. Aliyu assured that the council was already working with both local and international companies and other entities to set up assembly and production plants in Nigeria.
His words: “As a result of this initiative, billions of US dollars had been invested into the country/ A number of automotive plants have been set up by automotive companies such as Honda, PAN Peugeot, INNOSON, Nissan, ANAMCO, Dangote Trucks are assembling vehicles in the country.
“We will continue to promote that investment; we are also talking with Volkswagen Company with whom we have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). We are also discussing with other big international players to come into the country and produce vehicles locally.”
Infrastructure development is another key component of NAIDP, NADDC is working towards constructions of three Automotive Industrial Parks in Kaduna, Ode-Omu and Nnewi, these would be centralised locations with all the necessary infrastructures such as electricity, water, connectivity and other resources to make it easier for companies to come in and set up industrial facilities within these parks.
“The parks will operate as a Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative, we are working closely with the relevant stakeholders and we believe these will be locations that will enhance and allow us to actualize local content development target and would enable us develop more components locally.”
The improvement of standard is also an important pillar of the NAIDP, stressed Aliyu. “As you are aware the automobile is a very complex machine with many different components that all come together to create that machine and it is imperative that Nigerians are protected, that any spare parts that they used most meet minimum global standard which unfortunately isn’t the case now. In our efforts to protect Nigerian public, we have almost completed the construction of three automotive testing centres in Zaria, Lagos and Enugu.
“These projects would be completed before the end of this year, any spare parts that has not been tested by any one of the these centres will be deemed sub- standard or illegal – all these are our efforts to make sure that the vehicles and the components are available in Nigeria and are safe and efficient.”
Automotive Financing for Made-in-Nigeria Vehicles
The NAIDP is similarly focusing on market development, said Aliyu. “It is one thing to build a vehicle, it is another thing for people to be able to buy these vehicles. In order to achieve this, we have set aside billions of naira and we are working with Wema, Zenith And Jaiz banks to provide an automotive financing for made-in-Nigeria vehicles at a single digit interest rate between 6 and 8 percent so that Nigerians can put down just 10 percent and drive off for the brand new assembled made-in-Nigeria vehicle and pay over a period of five years.
“We believe this will help automotive companies to be able to produce more because they have ready buyers and it will also help Nigerians to be in a position to be able to buy brand new vehicles instead of having to deal with old and dilapidated imported used vehicles”
Converting diesel vehicles to gas engines
Aliyu revealed that the NADDC was currently working with the Federal Ministry of Petroleum Resources on converting diesel vehicles to gas.
“As you are aware, Nigeria has huge reserve of gas which most time, we have to even pay for it to be flared. We are working with Federal Ministry of Petroleum and all stakeholders to ensure we set up a production plant for kits that will be used in converting diesel trucks into gas.
“We are also working with the relevant stakeholders to launch what we call ‘the ‘NADDC Mechanics Finding App’ so that people can differentiate between professional mechanic and those you may say operate sub-standard workshops.
“In a nutshell, what NADDC does when you look at NAIDP is that we are creating and developing a comprehensive eco-system that will support the development of sustainability of manufacturing within Nigeria”.
10-year tax holiday for new auto companies
The NADDC boss told the media that the council was working with the National Assembly, parent ministry and Presidency to further review the Automotive Policy by setting up some fiscal incentives that will promote local production and discourage importation of used vehicles.
He said: “We believe Nigerians deserve vehicles that are new, modern, safe and efficient and the only way to do that is by promoting local manufacturers and discourage importation of what could be dangerous to the Nigerian public so the reviewed automotive policy will provide 10 year tax holiday to any new company that will produce vehicles in Nigeria as this will encourage local production and discourage importation of vehicles as envisaged in Executive Order 03 and 05 signed by President Muhammadu Buhari among others.”
