The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council, Joseph Osanipin has said that discussions with development banks and other partners are ongoing to bridge the car industry’s anticipated $1 trillion funding need.
This was disclosed by Osanipin during his address to press men in Abuja, according to Businessday.
He underlined the importance of funding in the automotive industry.
“For us, we are not investors; we are only trying to initiate the process. For this sector to achieve the desired growth, it will require close to $1 trillion in funding, but it doesn’t have to be just once,” he said.
According to him, a lack of capital hinders the speed of growth in Nigeria’s auto industry, and adding that the council was in high-level discussions with banks about providing funding for the sector.
He noted “We are working on that (funding), not only with the Development Bank; we are working on other ways that we can get funding, not only within Nigeria. There are some people we are discussing with, on other ways we can assess funds dedicated to the auto industry.”
In addition, the NADDC DG said it ranges between $1 trillion to $5 trillion, and banks and partners have already expressed interest in the funding possibilities.
Furthermore, Osanipin stated that the monies will not be used by the council, but rather by industry participants who may want additional funding to grow the sector.
“As a starting point, we can allocate approximately $1 billion. These are the kinds of things we are already discussing with our funding partners. It’s not for the council. It’s for the players, e.g., Innoson, PAN in Kaduna, and JAC. For example, for INNOSON to move to the next level, it may need some funding in millions of dollars. All these auto firms need this funding, and then a lot of funding is still going to come to them,” he said
