The Nigerian Government through the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has initiated a process to begin the manufacturing and assembling of Electric Vehicles (EV) locally.
The Director-General/CEO of the Council, Mr. Joseph Osanipin, said that the NADDC was planning a collaborative partnership with a Moroccan firm to begin Electric vehicle production locally.
Speaking after his recent participation at the Nigeria-Morocco business forum, Mr. Osanipin noted that the agency has commenced initial discussion on areas of collaboration with E-move Vehicles Company, a firm involved in EV manufacturing, and Univers Acier Steel, a firm that produces parts used by auto companies.
He said the initiative seeks to promote local production capabilities, enhance technological expertise, and reduce reliance on imported vehicles, thereby contributing to economic growth and environmental sustainability.
“We went for Nigeria-Morocco Business Week. After the forum that NADDC participated in with other businesses in Nigeria, we visited the E-move Vehicles Company. A company that manufactures Electric motorcycles, Electric Tricycles and Batteries. It is also a major player in Energy Storage Systems.
“The major attraction and reason for visiting is their expertise in battery manufacturing and manufacturing of economy EVs. We want them to produce in Nigeria.
“Manufacturing the same products in Nigeria will help in our quest for energy transition in mobility. It will create jobs, etc.
“We also visited Univers Acier Steel. They are steel manufacturing companies whose products are used by auto companies,” Osanipin told the Punch newspaper.
“We have studied their regulations and identified products we can produce in Nigeria and export to Morocco. The visit gives us the opportunity to know what we need to do quickly and how we can go about them to achieve results.”
He added that these meetings, “were an eye opener and marked the beginning of collaboration and experience sharing on automotive development. We learned a lot and still have a lot to learn from them on regulations, inspections, testing, etc.
“We also visited six test centers for different industries and sectors. We toured Cetiev (Technology Partner for Automotive Industries), this is where all parts are tested before they are certified by Homologation. This is one major way Morocco rids her country of substandard parts,” he added.
GIK/APA