The Nigerian government aims to commence domestic production of vehicles within the next decade.
Minister of Industry, Trade, and Investment Doris Uzoka-Anite revealed this during the launch of the Nigeria Automotive Industry Development Plan.
She emphasized the country’s potential to manufacture various vehicles, including motorcycles, tricycles, sedans, and heavy trucks, with the goal of reducing the cost of vehicle acquisition.
“Nigeria can produce its vehicles. We have the raw materials, skills, market, and now a plan in place,” she stated.
The plan aims to enable Nigeria to manufacture its vehicles entirely within ten years, thereby reducing the average Nigerian’s vehicle purchase expenses.
In supporting remarks, the Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Joseph Osanipin, highlighted a proposed policy offering a five-year tax holiday to vehicle assemblers in Nigeria to facilitate the plan’s realization.
This initiative underscores a deliberate focus on backward integration and component production.
This initiative comes in response to a significant increase in vehicle imports, which surged by 226.46 percent to N1.063 trillion in 2023 from N325.05 billion in 2022, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.
