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Nigeria has signed an MOU with Volkswagen to produce a number of its vehicles in the country. A fallout of the recent visit by the German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, to Nigeria, Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automotive manufacturer, will unload Nigeria-made Volkswagen vehicles into the local market as well as West African sub-regional ECOWAS market.
The deal was signed on behalf of Nigeria by Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okey Okechukwu Enelamah while CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen’s Africa operations, Thomas Schaefer, signed for Volkswagen.
Schaefer and Volkswagen have been working with the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu, and the agency towards the company’s entry into Nigeria and the setting up of local production.
Early July this year, the NADDC and the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment hosted Volkswagen and other renowned Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in Abuja as a prelude to setting the tone for homegrown automobile manufacturing by global brands.
“This MOU with Volkswagen is a progressive development as a result of that earlier engagement, and we are particularly excited because the company is very committed to new applicable technology and the local production of modern, safe and energy efficient vehicles which would be optimized for our environment,” said Aliyu at the signing ceremony.
“With Volkswagen, we have a strong stakeholder who understands the huge potential in the Nigerian market, and we are a perfect match to the company’s efforts towards innovative mobility services which would both compliment and boost our economic structure,” he added.
Volkswagen recently started vehicle production in the East African country of Rwanda this year. But with its large market and an economy touted as the continent’s biggest, Nigeria offers a larger market and a robust gateway to other West African countries.
