By Moses Akaigwe
Following the approval of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP 2023-2033) and the inauguration of the implementation committee – both by the Federal Government, Pres. Bola Tinubu has been urged by automakers to facilitate the signing of the document into law.
The automakers appealed to the President to speedily set in motion the process of presenting the NAIDP to the National Assembly as an Executive Bill as long planned, and assent to the document as soon as passed.
The vehicle producers made the collective appeal in a communiqué issued after the recent Nigeria Auto Industry Summit (NAISU) held in Lagos and delivered to the Presidency and the National Assembly on Monday, July 8, 2024.
Described as a key for developing the nation’s economy through the automotive industry, the long awaited NAIDP, when signed into law, according to the stakeholders, would provoke original equipment manufacturers’ (OEMs’) confidence in the nation’s economy and erase their fear of policy inconsistency.
In the 19-paragraph communiqué made available to journalists on Thursday, the automakers, among other medium term measures, stressed that, while passing the NAIDP, a provision mandating compulsory patronage of locally assembled/manufactured vehicles by all government functionaries, establishments, agencies and parastatals must be re-enacted and implemented.
The stakeholders charged the government at all levels to patronise only vehicles made or assembled in Nigeria, as a way of leading by example, saving foreign exchange and securing jobs.
In the same vein, they charged the National Assembly to review the zero differentials between imports of fully built up (FBU) and Completely Knocked Down (CKD) commercial vehicles, which presently stands at 10 per cent.
Organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), the summit was attended by the representative of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Doris Uzoka-Anite; Director General of NADDC, Mr. Joseph Osanipin; the Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA); and Automotive Local Component Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (ALCMAN).
Also represented were the Lagos State government; Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi; and and representatives of key auto industry stakeholders,
…Fault award of CNG bus contracts by PCNGI
The automakers decried the unclear criteria and procedure adopted by government through the Presidential Committee on CNG Initiative (PCNGI) in the recent award of contracts for 1000 units of CNG vehicles to local assemblers.
The stakeholders urged the National Assembly to ensure the injection of a clause that mandates the Federal Government to give a fair chance for all existing auto assemblers and manufacturers to partake in supplies of CNG vehicles to the government.
Noting that the proceeds of the levy charged on the import of passenger vehicles should be used for the intended purpose, which is the development of the automotive industry, “especially in the area of Vehicle Credit Scheme”, the communiqué reads:
“The government must simplify the CNG process by harmonising the workings of the Federal Ministry of Finance and that of the Nigeria Customs Service on the issue of gazetted duty free allowance on CNG equipment.
“The government must ensure that all imported used vehicles, including salvaged ones, must be accompanied by certificates of integrity by originating countries.
“The government should tackle inadequate access to finance through its fiscal and monetary policies; take a second look at interest rates offered by Nigerian banks which are significantly higher compared to other countries.”
As a long term measure, the stakeholders urged the government to aggressively incentivise CKD assembly through contract manufacturing to leverage the nation’s existing automotive assembly capacities and expeditiously restart the automotive industry from its heights in the 1980s.
“The government,” they stated further, “should develop and implement an automotive raw materials and component manufacturing master plan.”
Also contained in the communiqué is a call on the government to revive tyre, battery, and glass manufacturing as a precursor to revamping local manufacture of: welded parts (exhaust system, seat frames); electrical parts (batteries, trafficators, wiring harness); plastic and rubber parts (tyres, tubes, fan blades, seat foam, oil seals, hoses, radiator grills, etc); radiator, cables, filters, brake pads/linings, windscreens, side glasses, fibre-glass parts, paints; rubber products (tyres) and thereafter, other Tier 2 and aftermarket components.
-End-