From Rotimi Asher, Lagos
Federal Government has been told to, as a matter of urgency sign the National Automotive Industry Development Plan ,NAIDP, into law and ensure that all agreements reached during the signing are fully implemented, to reposition the automotive industry for economic growth and development.
In a communiqué issued to Nigeria Auto Journalists Association,NAJA, on Tuesday in Lagos, a copy which was also sent to the Presidency, the National Assembly, Ministry of Industry, National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, and other relevant stakeholders, the association is urging the Federal Government to legalize the plan and review the zero differentials between imports of fully built up ,FBU, and Completely Knocked Down ,CKD, commercial vehicles, which presently stands at 10%.
The communiqué was part of the resolutions the association came up with after Issues concerning the Nigeria’s automotive industry were elaborately discussed during the recent maiden edition of the Nigeria Auto Industry Summit organized by the Association in collaboration with NADDC.
The resolutions were categorized into short, medium and long term. As part of the short term, NAIDP must become law to reposition the auto industry.
Other short term resolutions are: the CNG drive must be incorporated in the policy and existing assemblers given fair chance to partake in supplies rather than the current unclear process utilized to launch and allocate 1000 units to few companies ‘’Governments at all levels must patronage vehicles assembled in Nigeria to show example, conserve FX and create employment in support of assemblers who have invested heavily in Nigeria’s economy.
‘’ Government must simplify the CNG process, by harmonizing the workings of the Federal Ministry of Finance and that of the Nigeria Customs Service on the issue of gazette duty free allowance on CNG equipment.
‘’ The government should prioritize automotive parks by engaging with Nigeria Free Trade Zone Authority and complete the Automotive Safety Test Centres across the country by 2025.
For Medium term, ‘’Via an executive bill, a law backing compulsory patronage of locally assembled/manufactured vehicles by all government functionaries, establishments, agencies and parastatals must be re-enacted and implemented.
‘’ The government must ensure that all imported used vehicles, including salvaged, must be accompanied by certificates of integrity by originating countries.
‘’ The proceeds of the Levy charged on the import of passenger vehicles should be used for its purpose, which is the development of the automotive industry, “especially in the area of Vehicle Credit Scheme”
‘’ The government should tackle inadequate access to finance through its fiscal and monetary policies; take a second look at interest rates offered by Nigerian banks which are significantly higher compared to other countries.
‘’ There should be proper management and restriction on the inflow of used vehicles to ensure balance between industry needs and consumer preference for Nigeria to reap automotive industry benefits, while the Federal Government, through the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, must negotiate with countries or regions from which these dirty vehicles originate.
‘’ The government should sustain and encourage import deletion continuously as a way to discourage a situation whereby second hand vehicles continue to undermine local manufacturing.
In the Long term, the resolutions read: ‘’In encouraging CKD, stakeholders placed lots of emphasis on backward integration; therefore, the government should consider the huge investments already put in by investors on CKD vehicle assembly plants and also the cost of maintenance.
‘’ The government should aggressively incentivize CKD assembly through contract manufacturing to leverage the nations existing automotive assembly capacities and expeditiously restart the automotive industry from its heights in the 1980s.
‘’ Nigeria should join many other countries that have developed their economies through investment in the automotive sector and its value chain like the production of body parts with significant local content.
‘’ Government should midwife the emergence of a corporation that will provide shared Industrial Infrastructure (e.g. punchline, press, machining, casting, stamping, fabrication, and molding infrastructure).
‘’Legacy assembly plants should be encouraged to invest in modern and more efficient production technology; attain competitiveness through creating economies of scale and securing unity of purposes across all relevant agencies of government for the NAIDP.
‘’ The government should develop and implement an automotive raw materials and component manufacturing master plan.
‘’ Tyre, battery, and glass manufacturing should be revived as a precursor to revamping local manufacture of: welded parts (exhaust system, seat frames); electrical parts (batteries, trafficators, wiring harness); plastic and rubber parts (tyres, tubes, fan blades, seat foam, oil seals, hoses, radiator grills, etc); radiator, cables, filters, brake pads/linings, windscreens, side glasses, fibre-glass parts, paints; rubber products (tyres) and thereafter, other Tier 2 and aftermarket components.
‘’ The proceeds of the Levy charged on the import of passenger vehicles should be used for its purpose, which is the development of the automotive industry, especially in the area of Vehicle Credit Scheme”, the communiqués said
