West Africa’s ambition to build a competitive automotive manufacturing industry will depend largely on policy certainty, harmonised regulations and stronger regional value chains.

The observation was made by Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Oluwemimo Osanipin, at the ECOWAS Regional Automotive Industry Development Forum held in Abuja.

The forum had in attendance policymakers, manufacturers, regulators, and other industry players who examined measures needed to attract long-term investment in vehicle manufacturing and assembly across the region.

Osanipin, during a panel he moderated on the second day of the forum themed: ‘Unlocking Investor Commitment to Automotive Manufacturing and Assembly Across the ECOWAS Region’, said West Africa’s expanding vehicle market presented significant opportunities for industrialisation.

He, however, declared that the region must address operational challenges that prevent manufacturers and investors from taking advantage of the market.

According to him, developing the automotive sector beyond vehicle assembly would create opportunities for local component manufacturing, technology transfer, employment generation and development of stronger regional supply chains.

He stressed that investors require a predictable operating environment, harmonised regulations, and effective collaboration among governments, regulators, and private-sector stakeholders before committing significant capital to the industry.

The panel brought together the Chairman of Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM), Innocent Chukwuma; Plant Manager, Japan Motors Ghana, Mohammed Byrouth; representative of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Adeyemi Folorunsho and Director-General of the Ghana Standards Authority, Prof George Agyei.

The session identified policy inconsistency, fragmented markets, limited local sourcing, dependence on imported vehicles and underutilised assembly capacity as major constraints to the growth of the regional automotive industry.

A major issue from the discussions was the need to develop a more integrated regional automotive market capable of providing manufacturers with sufficient economies of scale.

Participants at the forum also posited that differences in automotive regulations, standards and vehicle homologation requirements across regions increased costs for manufacturers and limited the movement of vehicles and components within the region.

They, therefore, called for greater harmonisation of automotive standards to improve market access and provide investors with a clearer framework for operating across West Africa.

They emphasised the importance of strengthening local component manufacturing and integrating small and medium-sized enterprises into automotive supply chains.

Greater regional sourcing, they noted, would reduce dependence on imported components while creating opportunities for local businesses to participate in the growing automotive value chain.

The discussions mentioned the need for governments to move beyond incentives and focus on establishing stable policies that can support investments with long gestation periods.

For manufacturers, policy reversals and regulatory uncertainty could undermine investment decisions, particularly in an industry requiring substantial capital expenditure in plants, tooling, technology and supply-chain development.

The panel consequently called for coordinated regional policies to promote investment, deepen local production, and improve the competitiveness of West Africa’s automotive industry.