Director of Trade Facilitation and Investment Promotion, Afreximbank, Dr Gainmore Zanamwe, said the continent must stop being a dumping ground for vehicles from Europe and America, while encouraging the improvement of local production of cars.

He stated that the challenge with Nigeria’s automotive industry is a policy direction that has stalled for so many years.

Zanamwe stated this in Lagos yesterday, at the road to the intra-African trade fair for 2025, organised by the bank ahead of the Intra-Africa Trade Forum (IAFT) programme slated for September 4 to 10 in Algiers, Algeria.

He said original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) would be at the event to address the challenges bedevilling the sector on the continent.

He said Afreximbank, working with the AfCFTA Secretariat, the African Union Commission and the African Association of Automotive Manufacturers (AAAM), has developed a comprehensive continental automotive strategy, which aims to catalyse the development of a sustainable automotive industry.

Zanamwe said it encompassed tailor-made financial and non-financial products as well as
services founded on three strategic pillars.

He said the bank has committed $1 billion to support the initiative, which is available to any investor in the automotive value chain.

He noted that an integrated and developed auto industry will have a very positive industrial, technology, skills and employment impact on Africa.