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By Moses Akaigwe
As concerted efforts continue towards improving activities in the automotive industry, one the sector’s foremost manufacturing plants, Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Ltd (DSWAL), has, once again, been commended for its huge investments in heavy duty trucks manufacturing.
The commendation came from the members of the House of Representatives Committee on Industry who toured DSWAL’s manufacturing facilities on Oba Akran
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Ikeja, on Wednesday, as part of their oversight visit to auto companies in the Lagos area.
Led by the Chairman, Hon. Enitan Dolapo-Badru, the lawmakers visited the newly commissioned completely knocked down (CKD) section of the expansive auto plant where heavy trucks are produced for users in Nigeria as well as for the West African market.
The Representatives, who observed assembly of trucks at the new CKD production lines, and also witnessed activities at the SKD assembly plant, commended the company for its exemplary achievements in the automotive industry.
Commenting on the mission of the federal lawmakers to DISWAL, Hon. Dolapo-Badru disclosed that they were at the plant for an on-the-spot assessment in order to ascertain the specific areas their intervention was needed in terms of enacting relevant laws to protect the company’s huge investments.
The House of Reps Committee members were guided during the tour by Dangote Sinotruk West Africa Ltd CEO, Mr.Hikmat Bahadur Thapa, who had earlier received them on arrival.
Thapa informed the guests that DISWAL has keyed into the alternative (green) energy initiative of President Bola Tinubu by commencing the production of trucks that run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and diesel (depending on the fuel that is available in the users’ locations).
He stated that as a tripartite joint venture between Dangote Group (65 percent), Sinotruk of China (30 percent) and Andaz (5 percent), DISWAL was built to produce commercial vehicles, covering heavy duty trucks, medium trucks and light trucks.
According to the CEO, Dangote Sinotruk 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.
Though the company came on stream as a heavy duty trucks assembler in 2017, CKD production did not commence until June 2024, when the President of the Senate, Goodwill Akpabio, flagged off that section of the leading auto plant.
At the CKD plant commissioning ceremony, the President of the Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, had reaffirmed the capacity of DISWAL to further raise the level of local content in its vehicles to no less than 60 per cent when Ajaokuta Steel Company comes on stream.
