NADDC tasks motorcycle assemblers to invest in local content

The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Osanipin, admonished motorcycle assemblers to prioritise massive investment in local content. He said to unlock the sector’s potential and ensure its enduring growth, a paradigm shift towards local components production is essential. Osanipin made the declaration during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and […]

The Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Joseph Osanipin, admonished motorcycle assemblers to prioritise massive investment in local content.

He said to unlock the sector’s potential and ensure its enduring growth, a paradigm shift towards local components production is essential.

Osanipin made the declaration during the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and election of a new executive of the Motorcycle Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), a key stakeholder in the country’s motorcycle and 3-wheeler industry.  

The theme of the AGM was ‘Local Components Production as the Key to Sustainable Growth of Nigeria’s Motorcycle and 3-Wheeler Auto Industry’.

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The DG stated that the theme resonates deeply with the core mandate of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC).

The motorcycle and 3-wheeler industry, he pointed out, occupies a unique and crucial position within Nigeria’s transportation ecosystem.

It provides affordable mobility for millions of Nigerians, facilitating trade, commerce, and access to essential services, particularly in areas where conventional transportation has limited the sector’s significant contribution to our national economy.

In his address, the Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, described the gathering as both a statutory engagement and a strategic forum that represents the voice, vision and vitality of a subsector that is critical to Nigeria’s industrial growth and mobility ecosystem.

The MAN boss extolled the various moves by the NADDC  to move the automotive industry forward and commitment to  the development of Nigeria’s auto sector within the past 18 months since he assumed office as the director-general.

Ajayi-Kadir also reiterated the urgent need for a more inclusive and supportive Nigerian automotive policy; one that not only champions local content and indigenous brands but also intentionally includes all sub-sectors of the automotive value chain, including motorcycles and tricycles.

“As we move forward, let us not merely react to the future; let us shape it. I charge the incoming executives to seize this opportunity to reimagine the future of motorcycle manufacturing in Nigeria by prioritising innovation, deepening sectoral and sub-sectoral collaborations and amplifying your collective voice within MAN and across national platforms.”

Rev Lambert Ekewuba, Executive Director of Motorcycle Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MOMAN), highlighted issues affecting the two and three-wheeler market.

He said there are many briefcase importers who masquerade as motorcycle manufacturers but do not have the interest of developing the industry, adding that their interest is just the immediate profit they make from the sales of motorcycles.

Besides, he said, there is no strong advocacy from the association because the CEOs of the member companies are not showing much interest in the activities of MOMAN.