Electric Vehicles: Six-point blueprint to drive mass adoption, by Metropolitan CEO

Electric Vehicles: Six-point blueprint to drive mass adoption, by Metropolitan CEO 

Nigeria’s electric vehicle transition risks remaining trapped in a cycle of policy announcements unless government and industry move swiftly to turn existing incentives, infrastructure plans and regulations into a coordinated, bankable market, Metropolitan Electric Limited has warned.

The company’s Chief Executive Officer, Olugbenga Obadina, made the call at the 3rd Nigeria Auto Industry Summit, organised by the Nigeria Auto Journalists Association in conjunction with the National Automotive Design and Development Council in Lagos.

Obadina said Nigeria had reached a critical stage in its electric mobility journey, stressing that the immediate challenge was no longer the absence of policies but the failure to coordinate and execute them effectively across government agencies.

According to him, several building blocks for EV adoption are already in place, including the National Automotive Industry Development Plan 2023–2033, which targets a 30 per cent local EV production share and 40 per cent local content.

He also cited the zero-rating of VAT on EVs and semi-knocked-down assembly parts under the Nigeria Tax Act 2025 and the reported reduction of EV import duty from five per cent to zero under the 2026 Fiscal Policy Measures.

Other initiatives, he said, covered government EV procurement, charging infrastructure, standards, battery recycling and skills development.

However, Obadina warned that these measures would have limited impact if investors and operators continued to face uncertainty over tariffs, customs procedures, financing, charging permits and other regulatory requirements.

“The policy pieces are largely in place. What is needed now is to connect them, with coordination and execution across agencies,” he said.

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He added, “Investors price execution certainty, not policy intention.”

Six-point EV compact

To move Nigeria from growing EV interest to mass adoption, Metropolitan Electric proposed a six-point “Nigeria EV Compact”.

The first is the development of a stable 10-year EV roadmap under a single coordinating body with sufficient authority to align the activities of relevant government agencies.

The second is to create anchor demand by progressively increasing EV procurement quotas for government fleets and public transportation.

The company also recommended financing “kilometres, not cars” through a naira-denominated green-mobility facility, credit guarantees and multi-year leasing arrangements.

It called for charging infrastructure to be treated as regulated infrastructure, with standardised permits, defined service levels and transparent tariffs.

The fifth proposal is performance-based localisation, with incentives tied not just to vehicle assembly but to production, quality, job creation, components, research and development and exports.

The final recommendation is to strengthen consumer and investor confidence through technician certification, transparent warranty disclosure, battery-health standards and clear rules for battery disposal and end-of-life management.

Obadina stressed that the goal should not be permanent government subsidies but the creation of a market capable of attracting private finance, supporting local production and eventually competing without extraordinary government intervention.

“The objective is not permanent subsidy. It is a bankable market that scales, localises and eventually competes,” he said.

Put fleets before private cars

Obadina argued that Nigeria should avoid simply copying the private-car-led EV transition experienced in wealthier economies.

Instead, he urged policymakers to prioritise vehicles that cover high daily mileage, including buses, logistics vehicles, institutional fleets and two- and three-wheelers.

Such vehicles, he explained, can generate returns on vehicle and charging infrastructure investments faster because of their intensive utilisation.

He said charging infrastructure should therefore be planned around actual depots, routes and daily driving patterns rather than deployed without regard to vehicle utilisation.

Obadina pointed to Metropolitan Electric’s operations as evidence that electric mobility can work in Nigeria when the wider ecosystem is properly coordinated.

Since 2023, the company has supplied, deployed and maintained more than 200 EVs, with another 150 units ordered. It has also deployed more than 6MW of charging infrastructure and operates in Lagos, Abuja, Abeokuta, Port Harcourt and Kaduna.

The Metropolitan Electric boss challenged policymakers, investors and journalists to judge the country’s EV transition by actual performance rather than policy announcements.

He said stakeholders should track the number of EVs operating daily, cost per kilometre, charging uptime, warranty performance and who ultimately bears the risks associated with batteries, financing and recycling.

“Count what operates, not what is announced,” Obadina said, insisting that Nigeria’s EV future must be “engineered, assembled, financed, charged and maintained here.”

 

Electric Vehicles: Six-point blueprint to drive mass adoption, by Metropolitan CEO