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Firm urges government to prioritise development of auto sector

By Kingsley Jeremiah
03 March 2017   |   3:34 am
Managing Director, BKG Exhibitions Limited, Ifeanyi Agwu has urged the Federal Government to urgently tackle the challenges threatening the country’s automotive sector to allow desired growth.

•Plans for motor, spare-part fairs

Managing Director, BKG Exhibitions Limited, Ifeanyi Agwu has urged the Federal Government to urgently tackle the challenges threatening the country’s automotive sector to allow desired growth.

Speaking in Lagos to unveil plans for the 2017 Lagos Motor Fair and Spare-Parts Expo, which will hold from 24 to 29 of April, Agwu insisted that the sector could perform better and put Nigeria on the right track to industrialisation should government review the current automotive policy accurately and provide the right environment that would allow the sector to thrive.

Agwu said that focusing on building spare-parts against assemblage would lead to massive employment, technology transfer and other gains, while stressing that the sector remained too important to be ignored as it reflects the true state of the economy.

He said despite the shortfall in the economy, the 2017 fairs were strategically planned with the title “One Expo, Continental Spread” to prioritised investment in vehicle spare-parts as key to national development, particularly the growth of local automotive industry.

Agwu, who said the sector is under siege, advised government to carefully study reasons that led to the collapse of the sector in the 80s to avoid repeat of the experience.

He was optimistic that made-in-Nigeria vehicles, particularly vehicle spare-parts could dominate markets across the continent if players have favourable environment.

Agwu said: “The sector has a long chain of defendants because what affects the sector trickle down to everybody. We should quickly look at the automotive sector and see how these problems could be remedy.”

He said: “What is happening in the sector is regrettable and if government wants Nigeria to get out of recession they should do something about the auto sector. No sector can bring Nigeria out of recession other than the automobile sector.”

He recalled that former President of America, Barrack Obama was able to set the economy of the country on track by tackling challenging facing automotive manufacturers.

Speaking about the events, Agwu said: In this edition as we have been doing, we will champion the auto spare-parts section to make Nigeria become the hub of business in Africa.”

He said spare-parts require little efforts compare to vehicle assemblage and would be more beneficial to the economy of the country.

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