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By Moses Akaigwe,
Policy inconsistency, poor implementation and increasingly dwindling purchasing power in the market have been identified as some of the challenges hindering the development of the automotive sector in Nigeria.
This came to the fore recently during a meet-the-stakeholders parley initiated by BKG Exhibitions Limited, organiser of the Abuja International Motor and the Lagos Motor Fair & Autoparts Expo Africa, and held at Dana Motors (Kia) head office in Isolo, Lagos.
One of the participants, Mr. Olawale Jimoh, who is the marketing manager, Kia Nigeria, bemoaned forex volatility, lack of access to affordable auto loan schemes as provided in the county’s auto policy.
Jimoh stated that the situation has continued to hinder the acquisition of new vehicles in the country, stating that this has interplayed with other key factors to hamper the growth of the industry.
Addressing the forum, the managing director of BKG Exhibitions, Mr. Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, explained that the parley was aimed at making key players in the industry to aggregate their views on the challenges of the sector with a view to forging a common front in tackling them with other stakeholders, especially policymakers.
Agwu argued that, by not banding together, the industry’s players do not help in the tackling of the myriad of challenges confronting the sector.
Lamenting the negative impact of this state of affairs, the BKG managing director said the outcome of the meet-the-stakeholders parley would be presented to the relevant Federal Government ministries, departments and agencies for action.
He urged other stakeholders already contacted by his team to key in into the initiative in order to ensure it makes the desired positive impact in the sector.
In his contribution, the vice-president of Kia Nigeria, Mr. Olu Tikolo, noted that Nigeria has the market and potentials to be the hub of automotive business in sub-Sahara Africa which it is fastly losing to Ghana.
Tikolo advised that implementing the National Automotive Industry Development Plan as well as backing it with appropriate laws and addressing the forex volatility and easing vehicle acquisition for Nigerians, would go a long way in restoring sanity and fast-tracking the development of the sector.
While thanking the management of Kia Nigeria for granting him and his team audience, Agwu announced that the forthcoming 21st Abuja International Motor Fair would take place at the International Conference Annex, Area 10, Garki, Abuja, from October 25-30, 2021.
According to him, intensive publicity activities are ongoing to drive much traffic into the venue of the event. He further disclosed that response from expected participants has been quite encouraging- an indication that virtually all the major and even fringe players are going to active participate in this edition.
L-R: Wale Jimoh, Marketing Manager KIA Motors; Franca Igwe, Marketing Manager BKG Exhibitions Limited; OluTikolo, Vice President KIA Nigeria; and Ifeanyichukwu Agwu MD/CEO, BKG Exhibitions, during the ‘meet the stakeholders parley’ at KIA Motors head office, Lagos, recently.
