•Plans to assemble EVs in Nigeria

By Moses Akaigwe

As vehicle owners in Nigeria become more conscious of rising costs of maintaining automobiles powered by internal combustion engines (ICE), electric vehicles (EVs) have, once again, been tipped as the future of green mobility.

One of the latest entrants in Nigeria’s electric vehicle industry, Cawin Mobility Limited, has predicted that, with no less than 70 percent savings compared to diesel and petrol vehicles, the population of EVs would steadily increase on Nigerian roads.

Speaking in an interview, the Group General Manager, Cawin Mobility Limited, Mr. Marc Shao, said, “When you compare the cost of an ICE (petrol vehicle) and EV of the same model year, you will notice that the EV is slightly cheaper. This is not to mention the high cost of maintenance that one will save driving an EV compared to driving a petrol vehicle.

“I can confidently say to you that you will save as much as 70 percent when you drive an EV. If you put this into consideration, you will realise how cheap it is to own and drive an EV.”

Citing the experience in China, where cost savings, combined with the fact that EVs are the means of achieving green mobility goals, helped to drive the EV adoption in that country, Shao said that with time, the vehicles would be more visible on Nigerian roads too

He said, “I believe EVs are already here to stay. In a not too far distant time, I believe much more EVs will be seen on the roads of Nigeria. I don’t have any doubt about that.

“Our Chinese team all know and have experienced the evolution of the EV in China. The beginning is the same. So, I am very sure that it will not take too long before we start to see EVs everywhere in Nigeria.”

And, that is beginning to happen already, because one of Cawin’s early customers is ABC Logistics, a subsidiary of ABC Transport Plc,  which recently commenced the testing of the fully electric vehicles for parcel delivery operations,

The pilot vehicles from Cawin is part of a strategic partnership aimed at evaluating the performance, durability, and operational efficiency of electric vehicles within the Nigerian logistics environment.

It was learnt that so far, the performance of the Cawin EVs has been very satisfactory.

Here comes Cawin with EV technology

The Group General Manager introduced Cawin Mobility Limited  as a Chinese firm focusing on establishing a complete EV ecosystem in Nigeria, including sales, services, charging infrastructure, and local assembly.

“We are a green mobility Chinese company, which began in Nigeria in March  this year (2025). However, business operations fully started in the month of May. Our Nigerian offices are in Lagos, Abuja, Kano and Port Harcourt. We are also operating in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and Singapore.

“Our CEO is Mr. Wayne Wei Ji, who is presently at our Ethiopia office with two of our top executives to develop the EV market in that country. We have in Lagos Mr. Marc Jin Shao, the General Manager (South) who is in charge of Lagos and Port Harcourt. And we have Mr. Alvin Sun, General Manager (North) and Mr. Flying Wang Yunxiang, who are both in charge of the North.

“Our after-sales and maintenance director is Mr. Jason Chen Jian and the General Manager in Ethiopia is Mr. Kane Li Geng. All our founding management team have worked for several years with EV manufacturers in China before coming to establish Cawin in Nigeria.”

Plan to assemble Cawin EV brand in Nigeria

According to Shao, Cawin Mobility is presently supplying to the Nigerian market,  electric vehicles from the top 5 EV manufacturers in China, including Geely.

“But in a very short time (probably in 2026), we will launch Cawin’s own brand models (to be assembled on SKD/CKD, that is, semi-knocked down and completely knocked down basis).”

The company, he disclosed, intends to expand from Nigeria to Ethiopia, Egypt; South Africa, and the Middle East, with a view to launching Cawin’s own-brand models (SKD/CKD) in 2026, and “commit to deepening presence in each c

“This way, we commit to deepening our presence in each country for many years to come. We also repair EVs. We have partnered with some auto workshops in Lagos and Abuja where we train the mechanics and technicians on how to maintain and repair EVs,”

Why Nigeria?

“At Cawin Mobility, our goal is to become the most trusted integrated new energy ecosystem leader in the global emerging markets (including the Middle East, Africa, South America, Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and Southeast Asia, etc.).

“So, we chose Nigeria because of the huge potential that the country has to connect the emerging markets in Africa.”

Challenges of EV adoption in Nigeria

The Group General identified slow adoption as a major challenge facing the electric vehicle industry in Nigeria, explaining that because the EV technology is new, lots of people are still skeptical about embracing it..

“We understand these challenges because China faced the same challenges 10 to 15 years ago until the Chinese government stepped in by adopting EVs for the transportation sector to an extent that 99 percent of taxis on the roads of the major cities are pure EVs.

“This step made it possible for individuals to trust the new technology and adopt it for their personal use.”

After-sales back-up as distinguishing factor

Mindful that EV brands are fast increasing in Nigeria, Shao also spoke on what distinguishes Cawin from the field of competitors?

“I will answer this question with two very vital examples: One, we have seen some EVs on Lagos roads already. But what most people do not know is that some EVs on the road at the moment are brands that people that sold them will not be able to get parts in case of repairs. The reason is that some EV brands have either closed down or the production of the EV brands has been stopped in China.

“Secondly, we introduced a vehicle to a client, and because of the cost, he decided to go buy the vehicle himself from China. Just last week, he had to come to us to ask that we help him do some repairs on one of the EVs.

“Cawin has direct partnership with top 5 Chinese OEM (original equipment manufacturers) from which we select models tailored to local needs, and conduct customisation (e.g., refurbishment, system optimisation and quality inspection) to ensure product superiority.

“We offer an industry-leading five-year/150,000km warranty for new vehicles; maintain strict quality standards for used/hybrid vehicles at prices competitive with regional peers.

“And our Chinese after-sales experts are on ground to train and offer after-sales for all our vehicles. And all our vehicles come with free home chargers that will be installed at the premises of the buyers to use to charge their EVs.”

With the General Manager during the interview Cawin Mobility office in Ikeja, Lagos, were the After-Sales/Maintenance Manager, Mr. Sam Deng Zhuoyuan; and the Business Manager, Mr. Babashola Ogunfuye