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By Moses Akaigwe
About two months after the completely-knocked-down (CKD) plant at Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Ltd (DSWAL) in Lagos was inaugurated by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, the president of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, has continued to receive kudos for the huge investment in the auto sector.
The latest thumbs-up came from the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Abbas, who, during a tour of DSWAL on Sunday, commended Alhaji Dangote for investing massively in turning the moribund textile factory into a multi-billion naira auto plant.
Located on Oba Akran Way, in the Ogba area of Lagos, Dangote Sinotruk West Africa has an installed capacity for producing 10,000 units of sundry heavy duty trucks a year, an average of about 16 units a day in a single shift.
The Speaker, who was accompanied by his deputy, Hon. Benjamin Kalu, and other members of the House, said it was particularly commendable that the industrialist chose to invest in Nigeria in order to help boost the development of the auto industry and generate employment.
He said that Alhaji Dangote’s investments in DSWAL and the on-going production of heavy duty trucks for the West African market would, to a large extent, impact on related ancillary industries, boost local content (auto component) development and help lift the country’s economy.
All these, according to Abbas, complement the efforts of the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government to re-energise the economy as envisioned in its Renewed Hope Agenda.
One of the highpoints of the visit was a tour of the trucks CKD plant by the Reps Speaker, the deputy, and other members of the House of Representatives with them, including Ikenga Ugochinyere, Kingsley Chinda, and Henry Okojie.
They were guided during the tour by a team led by the Vice President, Dangote Group, Mr. Devakumar Edwin, and the DSWAL CEO, Mr. Hikmat Thapa.
Apart from witnessing assembly of trucks at the CKD production line, the visitors were also shown the SKD assembly plant, as well as the paint shop where all the trucks produced in the plant are painted using the best of modern auto finishing technology.
A joint venture between Dangote Group (65 percent), Sinotruk of China (30 percent) and Andaz (5 percent), Dangote Sinotruk was built to produce commercial vehicles, covering heavy duty trucks, medium trucks and light trucks.
The legislators were informed that the plant has the capacity to produce semi-trailers, tankers and related products.
The Speaker and House of Representatives members also saw a long line-up of pre-ordered heavy duty trucks produced at the plant for delivery to customers.
The Vice President and the DSWAL CEO informed the guests that the array of trucks produced by the plant is targeted at satisfying the demands and requirements of users in Nigeria and the larger regional (ECOWAS) market.
