FG will release reviewed auto policy soon – Minister

The Federal Government says it will release a reviewed auto policy before the end of the year.

Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, stated this in Abuja recently while speaking with stakeholders.

The ‘meet the stakeholders’ forum’ was facilitated by BKG Exhibitions Limited at the minister’s office.

Adebayo said the government was working hard to put in place a workable auto policy before the end of 2021.

Responding to myriad challenges confronting the industry in Nigeria as raised by the team, the minister said, “I can assure you that we are not unaware of these problems and we have been doing our best to see how we can tackle these problems.

“I am sure you must be aware that at the moment; we are working on the auto policy and we are hopeful that before the end of this year we have an auto policy in place which will be presented to Federal Executive Council for approval.”

He further disclosed that the policy was part of discussions the Federal Government had with Original Equipment Manufacturers recently, assuring that the document would be out before end of the year.

Adebayo also said already the AfriExim Bank had accepted to fund the consultancy for the preparation of the policy.

He assured the BKG Exhibitions team led by the Managing Director, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Agwu of the ministry’s support.

The minister said, “The auto sector is a sector that our ministry is very interested in because we know that it portends a lot for the future of this country in terms of employment of our teeming youths; we will support its growth and development.”

He said the government was working hard to adequately address the challenges of the industry.

Earlier, the BKG MD had thanked the minister for granting them audience and giving a listening ear to the stakeholders in the industry.

According to him, the auto sector in Nigeria is very key to Nigeria’s economic development, stressing that it has the potential of huge employment generation and revenue earning through duties and other direct and indirect taxes.

Agwu said the inflation in the country could drop significantly through a thriving automotive sector.

According to him, Nigeria’s auto sector is huge and holds the highest number of auto brand representatives in Africa.

The BKG boss noted that countries such as Ghana are positioning to overtake Nigeria as the hub of the automotive market on the continent due to the Nigeria’s policy inconsistency and law backing policy of growing the industry.

Agwu said, “I don’t think that there is any country in Africa that has the number of auto brand representatives that Nigeria has, not even South Africa or Egypt. Yet, these people are selling to us.”