The Federal Government has reiterated its support for Electric vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria, as it thumped up for SAGLEV Electromobility Company Limited, the first electric vehicles assembly plant in the whole of sub-saharan Africa.
Dr. Jumoke Oduwole, the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment made this known on Wenesday during a facility tour of SAGLEV auto assembly plant located at Imota, Lagos.
According to her, President Bola Tinubu-led administration remain focused on fostering investment and industrial growth through policies that prioritise Nigerian businesses.
She said, “The Nigeria-first policy of President Tinubu is committed to supporting investors exactly like the demographic we’re seeing here. From industrial policy to trade policy to investment policy, this administration is focused on Nigerian investors and putting them first so they can thrive.”
The minister, who did a test-drive of one of the locally assembled EVs, described Saglev’s plant as a symbol of sustainable innovation, noting that the vehicles assembled there could significantly enhance Nigeria’s transportation and logistics sectors.
She noted that the high-end electric vehicles use “about 80 per cent less power,” which she said could move Nigeria’s mobility sector to the next level.
Oduwole also dismissed the notion that Nigerians do not patronize locally made goods, stating, “Nigerians are extremely patriotic and embrace Nigerian products.”
She said, “We have an investor that has brought in a product that is Chinese and it is going to be domiciled here. He also has his own brand that will be manufactured here. SKD put different levels of finishing touches but all the way with the opportunity to scale, to see the CKD parts manufactured here. This is what creates jobs, competitiveness and makes an economy grow, as there is no shortcut to the work it takes.
“So we really need to acknowledge and support investors, who have taken the hard road of going through finding land, technical partners, going through trade facilitations with our ports and all the reforms that are going on now. And making sure they are training young Nigerian technicians, making sure they expand after finishing with Nigeria market and even while finishing with the Nigerian market, exporting to the African Continental Free Trade Area.
“It is really such an opportunity for growth and this is exactly what President Bola Ahmed Tinubu wants to see and how he wants to support the domestic investors. It is a privilege and honour to be in SAGLEV today.”
Oduwole affirmed that President Tinubu administration is focusing on industrial policy, trade to investment policies and Nigerian investors and putting them first.
‘’This is my first time in this capacity visiting an EV Plant and just to seeing the dexterity and the range of products available,” she enthused, adding, “This is affordable, sustainable and can jumpstart our transportation and business logistics. From business perspective, they are affordable vehicles under N20m.
“There are also opportunities for credit which is another opportunity young Nigerians can look at. We talked about the transportation business like Uber drivers, Bolt and how they can lease vehicles like this. They have the track records through technology to prove to their banks. We have Fidelity Bank, which is also a big supporters of manufacturing and MSME. So we are delighted to have them on board on this project.
‘’So, we continue to deliver workable reforms for small and medium size enterprises as they scale, manufacture and produce. We want them to be competitive. We also have the high end range and I had a privilege of driving one of the cars and I really enjoyed it. These are vehicles that use like 80% less of power. I got the statistics from the Chairman and it is really what can take Nigeria to the next level.“
Also speaking on the implementation of auto policy which has been in the doldrums for sometimes now, the Director- General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Osanipin said, the government is working hard to ensure the policy is legalized, as it has already adopted the Vehicle Electrification Policy
“For the auto policy,’’ he stated, “We have gone far on that. We have done the first and second review. So we noticed one or two elements that we need to work on. We have consulted with top lawyers that are working on the drafting. In the next few months, we will be ready for that.
“First of all, we came up with EV policy. That is vehicle electrification policy, which is already on. And then, last week Thursday, we released the first National Occupational Standard (NOS), on how to maintain and service electric vehicles.
According to him, ‘’NOS is the first manual, just like curriculum that we will be using to train the technicians. Even the Universities, technical colleges and college of education and all the Polytechnics are going to derive their curriculum from this NOS, which is going to be used to train people that will work on electric vehicles. These are part of the policies we have brought up to support the adoption of electric vehicles in Nigeria.”
Speaking during the high profile facility tour, SAGLEV’s CEO, Dr. Sam Faleye revealed that his company’s plant has the capacity to manufacture minimum of 2, 500 cars per annum.
“If we have the demand,” he pointed out, “we can actually produce 2,500 in one shift of Monday to Friday. In two and half shifts, adding Saturday, we can produce 10,000 cars.”
Faleye, who said the charging infrastructure is already in place in the country, lamented that many Nigerians are still unaware of the workings of the EVs.
‘’Though we have trouble with importation, we chose not to focus on challenges but on solutions and the opportunities. We can only add value by assembling EVs here and not importing them,’’ he added.
