The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has lauded SAGLEV Electromobility Nigeria Limited, the first fully Electric Vehicle assembly plant in sub-Saharan Africa, for pioneering Electric Vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria.
The NADDC Director General, Mr. Oluwemimo Joseph, gave the commendation on Tuesday, May 20, during the NADDC familiarization tour of the SAGLEV EV assembly plant located in Imota, Ikorodu, Lagos.
Speaking through the councils’ Deputy Director, Media and Protocol, Mrs Felcia Oyebolu, who represented him at the occasion, Osanipin described the SAGLEV assembly plant as a facility that meets all international standards.
He stressed: This plant is of international standard with a capacity to assemble different categories of electric vehicles, including buses.
The familiarization tour, according to the DG spokesperson, is aimed at showcasing the achievements of the nation’s auto assemblers and manufacturers.
She stated: There are many Nigerians who do not know they can easily buy brand new locally assembled vehicles in Nigeria. They need to know what our assembly plants are doing.
“Our visit to them will also afford us an opportunity to know their challenges. As a matter of fact, we’ve just finished from Southeast East. We are going to visit all six geographical zones. We are in the Southwest zone now. Next week, we are going to the Northwest. So like I said, the essence is to showcase our automotive industry. In line with the Nigeria First policy, we are telling Nigerians not to import but to patronize made-in-Nigeria vehicles.
“The programme is free of charge for stakeholders. The Federal Government is paying. Our happiness is that all the stakeholders are ready.”
Also speaking at the event, the Chairman of SAGLEV Incorporated, a US-based company, and also SAGLEV Electromobility Nigeria Limited, Dr. Samuel Faleye, praised NADDC for promoting Electric Vehicle manufacturing in Nigeria.
Dr. Faleye, who described his relationship with NADDC as one with a long history, recalled that his company had been working with the council for over five years.
Despite the nation’s economic challenges, he pointed out, reviving Nigeria’s auto industry has always been paramount to the council. NADDC has really been pushing EVs for a while.
“Apart from ensuring we are a certified assembler, they inspected us when we started, anytime we have a problem with the Import Duty Exemption Certificate (IDEC), they come to our aid.”
SAGLEV boss also extolled NADDC for supporting the nation’s auto industry through capacity building.
According to him, 80% of technicians working in the SAGLEV EV assembly plant were products of the NADDC capacity building scheme, organized in collaboration with Automedics, a board member of the council.
He stated: For over eight years, Nigeria has had a curriculum for electric vehicle technician training, which was developed by Automedics, a company working with NADDC for capacity building.
“For me, one of the biggest achievements of NADDC is promoting automotive components manufacturing in Nigeria, including leather upholstery. Come to think of it, we are manufacturing leather handbags, one of the best qualities in the world. There is no reason why we, therefore, can’t produce upholstery for cars? So NADDC is involved in all of these?
I’m telling you we are here because of the efforts of the council, investors have expressed intentions to manufacture electric vehicles in Nigeria. But before we turned our backs, we would hear they’d started it in Morocco.”
According to Dr. Faleye, before the commencement of EV assembly six months ago, SAGLEV plant was certified by Donfeng, the OEM (Original Equipment manufacturer) SAGLEV represents.
“Donfeng certified that we are okay before we could start assembling.” He stated, “NADDC wrote us later that it’s time for people to know that electric vehicle assembly is happening in Nigeria.”
Dr. Faleye, therefore, appealed to Nigerians to, in line with the Nigeria First policy of the federal government, look inward for Electric vehicle purchase instead of importing.
Located in the Ikorodu area of Lagos, Nigeria, SAGLEV EV assembly plant is sitting on over 8000 square meters landmass with a floor of 5000 square meters.
Also present at the event were representatives of four banks with a core focus on renewable energy, partnering to add value to the business, and electric vehicle sustainability.
