…pushes CNG, EV conversion, charging stations nationwide
The National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, has disclosed that Nigeria now has 40 vehicle assembly plants in operation nationwide, with Innoson Motors ranking as the largest.
Director-General of NADDC, Otunba Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin, stated this during a one-day training session for the Commerce and Industry Correspondents’ Association of Nigeria, CICAN, on Thursday in Abuja.
Osanipin told participants that the growth marked a dramatic turnaround from the state of the industry when she first began working in the sector over 20 years ago.
Represented by the Director of Public Relations at NADDC, Mrs Susan Taiwo, he said “When we started, those of us who were there know that there was no assembly plant in Nigeria that was working.
“But by the special grace of God, we have almost 40 assembly plants now that are functioning, at least 40 that are assembling cars here in Nigeria.”
He cited Mikano, a company more widely known for generators, as one example of a firm that has since moved into vehicle assembly, noting that she personally drives a Chang’an model assembled by the company.
Osanipin said Nigeria’s automotive industry is now pivoting toward cleaner transport alternatives, including compressed natural gas, CNG, and electric vehicles, EVs, describing it as part of a broader “clean air revolution.”
He noted that the Council had begun licensing conversion centres across the country to support the shift to CNG.
“We are creating centres for conversion, for CNG, worldwide and nationwide,” he said, adding that training sessions were underway this week in every geopolitical zone to teach technicians how to convert and install CNG systems in vehicles, with hundreds of people being trained in each zone.
On electric vehicles, he said NADDC had piloted charging stations at select high-end outlets, but stressed that scaling up the initiative would require significant private investment.
“There is no way you can travel with an electric vehicle now in Nigeria if investors don’t come in and start putting charging stations all over,” he said, pointing to the United States, where drivers can typically find a charging or refuelling station roughly every two hours on the road.
Osanipin said the Council views itself as a catalyst rather than the sole driver of the industry’s transformation.
“The automotive industry is not a government industry. It is for individual investors to come in and take up from where we stop and invest, especially in the new trend of CNG and electric vehicles,” he said.
He added that the Council would continue to support private investment in charging infrastructure and conversion capacity as demand for cleaner vehicles grows.
“We cannot be left behind. We have to dance to the trend,” he said.
Osanipin used the session to appeal for closer engagement between the Council and industry correspondents, saying NADDC’s work often goes unrecognised because it is not adequately publicised.
“If you don’t amplify what you are doing, nobody will know what you are doing,” he said, while describing the training as the start of a more regular briefing arrangement with journalists covering the sector.
