The Director-General, National Automative Design and Development Council (NADDC), Jelani Aliyu, has said in the next 10 years, 50 per cent of the vehicles that would be on the Nigerian roads would be electric vehicles produced or assembled in the country..
He also said the Council is partnering with Jaiz Bank to pioneer a programme where that will allow Nigerians to buy brand new, especially the electric or gas vehicles on loan and pay over period of five years.
NADDC chief spoke while fielding questions from reporters in Kaduna, saying the automobile companies currently producing and assembling in Nigeria, including Dangote, PAN, Honda, Elizade, Innoson and Lanre Shittu among others, have invested over N500 billion in the industry as at 2019.
He also said that, the combination of the automobile companies in the country, currently have the capacity to produce up to 400,000 vehicles per year and they currently employ over 50,000 Nigerians.
He said: “In the 70s and 80s, Nigeria had Peugeot, Volkswagen, Anamco, Styre, Leyland and things were looking up to and the automotive industry was booming, with a lot of potentials. We had brand new vehicles and we knew nothing like imported used vehicles; everyone who could, bought a new car.
“Peugeot alone had 40 per cent local contents; parts were coming from here in Kaduna, in Lagos, Nnewi and Jos, we were producing over 140,000 vehicles per year here in Nigeria and people were buying them up. Then, in 1986, something very bad happened. Because we were so dependent on crude oil, the price of crude oil dropped from $27 to below $10 and that threw Nigeria into recession.
“Those Nigerians who could buy brand new Peugeot 504 could no longer afford them. So, the Peugeot, the Volkswagen had to close down and a lot of those producing vehicles, not because government said, not because the companies left, but because the market had dried up.
“So this administration said something has to be done and the NADDC got the approval of the Federal Executive Council to implement the National Automative Industry Development Plan, which has five key elements including; helping to promote local production, development of infrastructure, development of standard and market development. (Nation)