Nigeria Importation Of Cars Drop By 20% – Bank Of Industry

The nation's industrial development finance
institution, Bank of Industry (BoI), has stated
that it is fully convinced about the feasibility
of automobile manufacturing in Nigeria and is
ready to inject more funds to boost the
industry.
The bank said it was impressed with Nigeria's
determination to join the league of
industrialised nations like Germany, Britain,
United States, China, Japan with the unveiling
of the first ever truly made-in-Nigeria cars by
the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing (IVM)
Company Ltd, in Nnewi, Anambra State.
The Managing Director of BoI, Mr. Rasheed
Adejare Olaoluwa, said having seen the
progress made by the Innoson Group in
automobile manufacturing, "we are prepared
to work with other serious-minded
automobile manufacturers and provide
financing opportunities which they can take
advantage of".
Unveiling the IVM Fox hatchback and the IVM
Umu saloon cars at Innoson's Plant in Nnewi,
the Minister of Industry, Trade and
Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, noted that
the recent Auto Policy of the federal
government, which he said had dramatically
reduced the volume of imported cars by 20
per cent since its introduction, made the feat
possible.
"This is another milestone under President
Goodluck Ebele Jonathan who insisted on
positioning industrialisation and value
addition at the forefront of his
administration's developmental policies and I
commend Innoson for making significant
investments to show that he supports our
industrial policies," he said.
He pointed out that President Jonathan had
implemented policies that would diversify the
country's economy and sources of
government revenue, given the fact that
Nigeria has the raw materials to support
industrialisation and so far the policies are
yielding the desired results.
Commenting on the local content analysis
done on the IVM brand vehicles by the
Nigerian Society of Engineers (NSE), which
disclosed that the vehicles were made up of
about 70 per cent locally-sourced contents,
the minister pointed out that there was no
country in the world that could boast of 100
per cent local content.
"Some OEMs do only 30 per cent but today
we are all here making history in Nnewi, the
Japan of Africa, where we have successfully
produced 70 per cent local component cars
which is one of the highest and when you talk
about affordability, Innoson is the cheapest,"
he said.
Aganga added that other global brands like
Nissan and Peugeot were driving partnerships
and capacity expansion in the country's auto
sector.
"As we talk of the fall of oil price, it has
become critical that we cannot continue to
import what we can produce here in Nigeria.
We spend about $ 6 billion annually
importing cars. However since the
introduction of this policy, we have
experienced a 20 per cent drop in imported
cars and have exceeded expectations in a
very short period," he said.
According to Aganga, those who initially
opposed the Auto Policy have decided to go
into production.
"Without the political will of the president, we
would have had a policy reversal with the
amount of pressure that was mounted on us
to drop it and we would not have been here
unveiling these today," he said.
He commended Innocent Chukwuma, the
Chief Executive Officer of the Innoson Vehicle
Manufacturing Company Ltd, for possessing a
can-do spirit, which has propelled the
company to dizzying heights of industrial
success.
"Our industries deserve infrastructural and
financial support to reach their objectives and
for Innoson those two critical support
components came from the administration of
the former Governor of Anambra State, Peter
Obi and the Bank of Industry (BoI)," he said.
Aganga pledged federal government's
continued patronage of locally manufactured
products, stressing that in passing the Auto
Policy it was established that government
would only buy made-in-Nigeria cars and
provide the needed support for industries to
excel and compete globally.
"We plan to open three auto component
cluster parks in the countryand we need the
governor of Anambra State (Willie Obiano) to
sign an MoU and give us a piece of land and
the C of O here in Nnewi and we would
establish one of the three cluster parks here,"
he said.
Making his remarks, Olaoluwa expressed the
delight of the development bank in
witnessing the historic event.
"In Nigeria today, there are many companies
that are into the assembly of cars but today
for the first time, we are actually
manufacturing cars. The Nigerian Industrial
Revolution Plan (NIRP) is beginning to bear
fruits in the key areas of competitive and
comparative advantages, where we can drive
growth and development in the economy,"
Olaoluwa said.
He noted that Innoson is an exemplary
customer of the bank, adding that this was
the beginning of more good things to come
from the Bank's partnership with the
company.
Also, President of the Nigerian Society of
Engineers (NSE), Ademola Olorunfemi,
disclosed that a few years ago when the body
paid a visit to the vehicle plant, they were
given an IVM bus to carry out a product
analysis on it.
"We did observe that being an effort in the
right direction, more needed to be done to
introduce more local content into it and more.
"Today, within two years Innoson has
improved on all our recommendations and
increased the vehicles' local content up to 70
per cent which is not less than what is
obtainable elsewhere in the world," he said.
He said the Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing
Company Ltd had been granted permit by
NSE to use its seal, while the CEO,
Chukwuma, would be inducted into the NSE
hall of fame, making him the 19th person in
over 60 years of the body's existence to be so
highly honoured.
He urged President Jonathan to muster all the
political will at his disposal to mandate the
use of only made-in-Nigeria cars by all MDAs.
Representing the Anambra State Governor,
Willie Obiano, his Deputy Nkem Okeke
commended the Innoson group for its
developmental strides, value addition and job
creation.
"It is not only through trade that a nation can
develop, but through the conversion of our
local raw materials into finished products.
Therefore we will continue to support Innoson
and other well-meaning industrialists," he
said.
Okeke stressed that the only way a company
like Innoson can develop is when the nation
buys the products of local manufacturers.
"I thank BoI and I hope that what they have
done for Innoson will be extended to other
industries from this state in our quest to
provide jobs for our citizens," he said.
In his remarks, Chairman of the occasion and
National President of the Manufacturers
Association of Nigeria (MAN), Dr. Frank
Jacobs, noted that the feat of achieving the
production of made-in-Nigeria cars was
attained despite the challenging business
environment which manufacturers are facing
in the country.
"It is a testimony that the federal
government's Auto Policy is working. The
automobile industry bill has not yet been
passed by the National Assembly and we are
all expecting that it will be done soon
enough," he said.

Posted By David Aniemeka