Our country Nigeria is not particularly popular for the manufacture or production of the goods we consume, not to even speak of exporting them. The height of it all was when I discovered that we also import tooth picks. Clearly no First World Nation or prosperous country got to that level by depending on & consuming majorly imported or foreign goods. You would think that all the Rice we eat (which is one of the most consumed staple in Nigeria) was grown here in the country, Sadly this is not the case. However we believe things are changing.

At a time, vehicles accounted for the 2nd most imported goods based on value, we import vehicles of all kinds into the country, both brand new and Tokunbo cars, by both private individuals and government institutions. However this is changing for the better.

I have recently discovered some developments and initiatives in the automotive industry that is worth being shared and discussed.

The National Automotive Design & Development Agency better known as NADDC has been very busy these past few years as they aim towards reviving the Nigerian Automotive Industry.
One of the many ways they are doing this is by facilitating the establishment of Auto assembly plants within the country. The idea is to have existing Original Equipment manufacturers like Toyota, Honda, Nissan etc establish their assembly plants here in Nigeria, so that the vehicles can be assembled here where they are needed. You can check out the NADDC facebook page https://www.facebook.com/naddc12/?fref=ts where they continuously post information about this initiative.

There are many benefits that Nigerians will derive from this initiatives, one of which is that brand new cars will not be as expensive as they have always been. But more importantly, this does a lot for our economy as a nation, talking about the employment generation, transfer of technology because Nigerians will actually be the ones involved in the assembly of these vehicles while the Original Equipment Manufacturers remain to ensure that we keep to the world class standards & excellence of vehicle production.

Enough being said, I believe a picture is worth even more than a thousand words. I am sure I am not the only one who has heard about this recent developments or seen the actual products on our Nigerian roads and not just in the news. As promised, here are some photos of vehicles that were actually assembled in Nigeria. We are yet to reach the point of producing all the vehicle parts from scratch (actually no nation does that), the truth is, we must learn to walk before we run.

Do you think this initiative will be ultimately successful? There maybe some challenges along the way, but I believe that success is not impossible.

Check out the website to see the progress that has been made http://madeinnigeria.org/

What's there not to believe?.. Thsee cars are merely assembled in Nigeria.

Itibolibo

There is nothing like "impossible" in the dictionary of success.

Courtesy of Innoson motors, Nnewi

love the pickup