Stakeholders seek review of national automotive policy

•As low turnout recorded at 16th motor fair

Organisers of the 16th Lagos Motor Fair and Auto Parts Exco Africa have called on the Federal Government to urgently come out with the promised reviewed National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) to address contemporary developments.

They said Nigeria’s nonchalant attitude does not augur well for stakeholders, especially those that have invested so much in automobile assembling and manufacturing.

Besides, this year’s fair recorded a few exhibitions. Unlike other editions where over 50 vehicles and different original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) were on display, the fair witnessed fewer sedan and sport utility vehicles (SUVs) from A.G Leventis, Toyota, JAC Nigeria Elizade Autoland and Coscharis Motors.

Massilia Motors, distributors of Mitsubishi Motors; CFAO/Suzuki, Stallion Motors, dealers of over seven brands; Westar Limited, dealers of Mercedes, Mikano Motors, Kia, OMAA and Jet Systems were also absent.

Apart from vehicle dealers, regular spare parts exhibitors and other dealers in auto and allied products, as well as services, were absent due to the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings revealed that apart from the outbreak of COVID-19, the economic downturn, which has drastically reduced purchasing power of car users, also contributed to the lull.

Chairman Organising Committee and Managing Director, BKG Exhibitions Limited, Ifeanyichukwu Agwu, said despite all odds, the edition was held to ensure that the automotive sector remains on the front burner.

Agwu said the sector is very important as it shows physically, the state of the economy, generates much revenue and creates enormous employment.

He said no serious government toys with the sector, which has strong linkages with other sectors. If it is not rightly re-positioned now, it will very shortly, negatively affect a whole lot in the life of the people and economy, the expert warned, urging the government to parley stakeholders on improvement.

He said there is an urgent need for all stakeholders to close ranks and pursue the development of the sector with more focus and dedication. They need to ensure unity of purpose and always utilise every window of opportunity such as this, to draw the attention of policymakers and implementers to challenges in the sector.

Agwu said stakeholders can put the sector’s issues on the front burners of economic discussion and policy in the country and ensure that it does not collapse.

“This is indeed a challenging time in the automotive industry in Nigeria. It is a season that has thrown up more challenges than ever before. A lot of companies have closed shop, while a large number merely exist and are in need of life support. This can be confirmed by the number of exhibitors in this edition. Ordinarily, it is the delight and wish of any serious player in the industry to showcase among others, but here we are witnessing the opposite.

“In this edition, as we have been doing, we are re-emphasising the need to institute and drive a well-thought-out policy and programme to rejig the sector to make Nigeria the hub of automotive business in West Africa in particular, and the entire continent in general,” he said.

Executive Secretary, Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) Aloga Ogbogo, called on the Federal Government to establish the Transport Development Bank (TDB) to ensure sustained growth of the sector.

He explained that the proposed bank would be modelled after existing ones like the Bank of Agriculture (BoA).

He also lamented that there was no regulator for the transport sector, despite its being one of the biggest in the country

Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Niyi Adebayo, said the automotive industry is critical to the growth of any nation. If you take a look at all the industrialised nations across the world, their auto industry is quite thriving.

Adebayo, who was represented by Director, Research, Design and Development, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Dr. Fidelis Achiv, said the auto industry contributes over 10 per cent to the growth of the economy.

He said Nigeria has also long realised the importance of the auto industry to national development. It generates employment, creates wealth for the government and also saves foreign exchange.

“That was the reason why after independence, the government got directly involved in the establishment of various assembling plants. The plants were doing well, and components used for manufacturing were assembled locally.” However, he said as the fortunes of the economy went down, these industries were forced to close down. But because of the importance of auto industry to national development, government still reviewed the activities and came up with the National Automotive Development Plan, which was launched in 2013 with the sole aim of reestablishing the assembling plant. The OEMs returned and they started doing well until when the Finance Act of 2020 came on board introducing a lot of taxes, and bringing a lot of burden to manufacturers, and by extension, consumers.

However, he said the council is reviewing the policy and the finance act to ensure that these taxes are reviewed.

General Manager, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Coscharis Group, Babarinde Abiona, said the event was not a jamboree but an opportunity to showcase what is new in the sector.

He appealed to the government to create an enabling environment and policy that supports the business and makes the automotive industry a viable economy.