PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr. Joseph Osanipin, has suggested a ban of importation of cars used from year 2000 to 2007 into the country.
This initiative, according to him, aims at stimulating the local manufacturing of vehicles while preventing the country from becoming a dumping ground for older automobiles.
Osanipin, who made the suggestion during a public sector engagement on the implementation of the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP 2023-2033) in Abuja, said NADDC would collaborate with relevant agencies to establish a maximum age limit of 20 years for imported used vehicles.
He said: “Again, we need to talk to our colleagues, especially in customs, to start putting age limits on used cars. We cannot allow Nigeria to be a dumping ground for used vehicles.
“A situation in which 2000 to 2007 used vehicles are brought into Nigeria is unacceptable. So we will collaborate with relevant authorities to this effect.
“And, apart from that, we will have to specify the minimum standard that has to be in a vehicle for it to come to Nigeria.”
The DG also noted that certain vehicles entering Nigeria without airbags are still permitted into the country, saying this practice needs to cease.
Osanipin emphasized engaging stakeholders in formulating and executing the Federal Government’s automotive policy.
He also said NADDC was established to tackle critical challenges in the sector, including low production levels, inadequate local content, and limited financial resources.
He said: “We are going to start what we call deletion policy which is contained in the NAIDP being reviewed today because that is the only way we can grow our local content. That’s the only way we can develop our parts. We are working to identify the parts we can produce in Nigeria.
“We are looking at the production of tyres, plastic, foams, leather, and even batteries.”
“The sooner we identify these and component manufacturers that can do this according to our standard, the better for us.”
According to him, producing the local components would enable the council and relevant agencies to halt the importation of all items produced locally in the country.
Persecondnews reports that data from the International Trade Administration of the United States revealed that Nigeria’s annual vehicle demand stands at 720,000 units while local factories are only able to produce 14,000 units yearly, resulting in imports to fill the shortfall.
Also, data from the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reveals that in the first nine months of 2023, Nigeria imported used vehicles worth N926.09 billion from the United States and the United Arab Emirates.
In the first quarter, used car imports from these two countries stood at N59.53 billion, this rose to N721.79 billion in the second quarter and dropped to N144.77 billion in the third quarter, the NBS further disclosed.
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