By Moses Akaigwe
Key stakeholders in the strategic sub-sector of the nation’s automotive industry. – the component manufacturers – converged on Abuja recently to interact with the officials of the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment and the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC).
•l-r: Chief Anselm llekuba, Co-Ordinator, Association of Local Content Manufacturers of Nigeria (ALCMAN), Chief Dr. Innocent Chukwuma,.Chairman/CEO, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Ltd; and Chief Chika Okafor, Chairman/CEO, Chikason Group Ltd at the event in Abuja.
Convened by the ministry with some industry players from across the country in attendance, the gathering focused on feeling the pulse of the strategic manufacturers on how to better the nation’s economy from the auto industry perspective.
The meeting was held at the Bank of Industry (BOI) building in Abuja
Expectedly, the automotive component manufacturers in present took advantage of the forum to point out the numerous challenges bedeviling automotive component manufacturing in the country.
In his address during the interaction, Chief Anselm Ilekuba, Co-ordinator / Liaison, Auto Component Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (ALCMAN), described the meeting as timely for all to join hands in reviving automotive component manufacturing in Nigeria.
Chief Ilekuba underscored the need for government support for the automotive industry., saying, ‘’Without money, nothing moves, but when money is given and it is not effectively managed, it amounts to sheer waste of time. But money cannot just do everything, passion is also part of it.”
The ALCMAN Co-ordinator reminded the audience that back in the 80’s, the Nigerian auto industry sourced about 40 percent of its components locally.
He recalled that components like glasses, tyres, batteries, brake pads, foam and seats, exhaust systems, electric cables, and many more, were all produced locally and supplied to local assembly plants, like PAN Nigeria, Kaduna; ANAMMCO, Enugu; and Volkswagen, Lagos, and others.
Currently, less than 10 percent of the components in auto production in Nigeria is sourced locally, according to him.
Chief Ilekuba, therefore, advised that for the country to achieve the 40 percent local contents requirement of the African Continental Free Trade (AfCFTA), much attention has to be geared towards support for the local components manufacturing.
To this end, he argued that there is need for collaboration in various areas, including in the resuscitation of vehicle components manufacturing in Nigeria; fostering a link between suppliers and vehicle manufacturing in the country; as well as identifying sources of raw materials and suppliers of raw materials to component manufacturers.
Creating methods of funding and collaborating with the government on the provision of industrial infrastructures for component makers, is also key, local content manufacturer pointed out.
The ALCMAN chieftain ended his remarks by calling on the Federal Government and other stakeholders in the automotive industry value chain to share in the plight of automotive component manufacturers, so as to explore new avenues of collaboration, new sources of funding as well as finding other strategic ways that will drive the automotive components manufacturing sector to success.