Joseph Osanipin, Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) has said that discussions are ongoing with development banks and other partners to bridge the sector’s funding gap estimated at $1trn for the auto industry.
Osanipin speaking with reporters in Abuja highlighted the critical role of funding in the auto industry.
“For us, we are not investors; we are only trying to initiate the process. For this sector to achieve the desired growth, it will require close to $1trn in funding, but it doesn’t have to be just once,”
According to him, the scarcity of funding slows the pace of growth in Nigeria’s auto industry, noting that the council was in high-level discussion with the banks to provide funding for the sector.
“We are working on that (funding), not only with the Development Bank; we are working on other ways that we can get funding, not only within Nigeria. There are some people we are discussing with on other ways we can assess funds dedicated to the auto industry”.
Speaking about the size of the funding that would be required for the auto sector, the NADDC DG said it is between $1trn and $5trn, noting that banks and partners are already buying into the funding proposals.
He also said that the funds will not be for the council but for industry players who may need extra funding to boost the sector.
“As a starting point, we can allocate approximately $1bn. These are the kinds of things we are already discussing with our funding partners. It’s not for the council. It’s for the players, e.g., Innoson, PAN in Kaduna, and JAC. For example, for INNOSON to move to the next level, it may need some funding in millions of dollars. All these auto firms need this funding, and then a lot of funding is still going to come to them,” the NADDC DG said.
