The Federal Government, through the National Automotive Design and Development Council, has announced plans to begin local manufacturing of 10 essential vehicle spare parts.
It said this initiative is designed to reduce Nigeria’s reliance on spare parts imports, which currently cost the country around $1 billion annually.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Director General, NADDC, Joseph Osanipin, on Sunday, following the conclusion of a two-week training programme for auto engineers and automotive software designers in Abuja.
Osanipin, represented by the Director of the Directorate of Research, Design, and Development, Fidelis Achiv, emphasized that the NADDC was prepared to produce spare parts for over 11 million vehicles currently on Nigerian roads.
He also mentioned that the council was working towards increasing local assembly capacity to 40 percent, up from the less than one percent currently achieved.
He said, “We are working to achieve a level whereby we can go back to assembling vehicles that have up to 40 per cent locally manufactured components. The We have vehicle assemblies in Nigeria but the assembling that is going on is not adding much value to the economy.
“Vehicles that have been assembled come in completely built, and they just remove the tyres, remove the exhaust system, remove the engine, ship them, and assemble them here. But we want to transform from that to a level where these vehicles come in unpainted – the welding is done here; some components parts are produced here and the assembly will add more value, and employ more people. We have over 11 million vehicles on our Nigerian roads.
“Of the over 3,000 parts in a vehicle, if we can leverage on producing just 10 that we can beat our chest, that in the whole world, Nigeria produces these 10 components and they are best, the market is going to be huge. Our economy will change.
“So, the essence is to train these engineers to be able to design parts, to be able to produce parts so that we can be self-sufficient in vehicle parts production in Nigeria.”
Meanwhile, the Managing Director, FAZSAL Nigeria Limited, Abdul-Lawal Zubair, in his remarks, charged the participants to produce innovative designs to advance the automotive industry.
He stated “You have not just seen the theory of design but with practicality. So, as you go along, if you have a plan to work, there are opportunities out there. Solve the issue for us. There is a reason among all the software for this agency to choose MIGAS NFX.
“Let them be proud of you. They can call you for advanced training. Possibly they can take you to South Korea for training. Don’t just know the software and keep it. Be innovative and give solutions.”
