‘Auto-policy needs more bite’
With increasing awareness and renewed interests by automakers to set up automotive assembly plants in Nigeria, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) is advocating a conducive business environment by putting in place the right policies and initiatives that facilitate the resuscitation of the automotive manufacturing industry.
Remi Bello, president, LCCI) made this call at the just concluded symposium of the Automobile & Allied Products Sectoral Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry tagged “Resuscitating the Nigerian Automotive Industry: Getting It Right”.
The LCCI boss used the forum to advocate for a conducive business environment enriched with requisite provisions like modern technology that would lead to innovations, supportive infrastructure, skills development framework, consistent policy regime, affordable financing and enhanced value-chain mechanism that develops local capacities to source raw materials locally.
While maintaining that the new automotive policy target was to place Nigeria among industrialised nations, he insisted that the transformation agenda must be consistent and driven by international best practices. He was of the opinion that a vibrant automotive industry will provide a guaranteed boost to the contribution of manufacturing sector to Nigeria’s GDP.
Lending his voice to the call for a simultaneous development of supportive sectors like the steel, plastics and chemicals industries, Bello added that these industries feed the auto industry with raw materials for the over 2000 parts that go into the assembly of a car.
He reminded the audience drawn from the automobile business sector that over the past few months, policy initiatives by the federal government points to the desire to transform the Nigeria automotive industry.
According to data available from the International Organisation of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), the auto industry employs over nine million people representing about 5 percent of the world’s total manufacturing employment. In South Africa, the auto industry alone contributes to 7 percent of GDP and 12 percent of exports, and is the second largest employer of labour.
From research conducted by the NBS and the Nigerian Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA), the local automotive industry has the potential to create more than 700,000 jobs. As at 2012, only 2,584 persons were directly employed by the assembly plants.
With over 200,000 new and used vehicles introduced into the economy on yearly basis, the Nigerian auto industry has the potential to surpass the South African automobile industry in terms of contribution to GDP. This, LCCI president said, is feasible if the industry is revitalised and made vibrant by addressing inherent concerns.
MIKE OCHONMA