Sigh of Relief in Auto Sector, as FG Promises to Implement Auto Policy
There were palpable sighs of relief in the crowded hall at a hotel in Victoria Island, Lagos, during the week, when the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah assured stakeholders in the auto industry that the Federal Governmen
“The FGN has identified the auto industry as a strategic driver of industrialisation and committed to implementing the NAIDP,” stated the minister, in his presentation, ‘NAIDP: Setting a Strategic Implementation Framework’. The ministers’ assurance was the first commitment the auto assemblers were getting from the President Muhammadu Buhari administration, since it assumed office that it would not scrap the NAIDP instituted by the previous administration for the nation’s industrial development.
The ‘Stakeholder Forum on the Nigerian Automotive: Setting an Implementation Agenda for National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) was called by the Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment in collaboration with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) and the Nigerian Economic Summit Group in Lagos, recently.
The minister, who said he was at the forum to listen to the stakeholders, urged them to take ownership of the policy so that they can provide solution on its successful implementation. “We will like to see ownership of implementation, including ownership and resolution of the problems that will inevitably arise, by the industry’s stakeholders.”
The minister said his presence at the meeting was to give government’s political will and to partner with the auto industry stakeholders to get the implementation solutions that are needed.
The nation, he said could not afford not to have an effective auto policy because of its importance of the auto sector as a “Key component of the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), aimed at diversifying the economy; and increasing the manufacturing sector’s contribution to GDP.
Expected benefits of a vibrant auto policy, he said include: employment generation; skills/ technology acquisition; FOREX earning/savings, among others.
The NAIDP, he said was formulated to facilitate an orderly development of the auto industry but that it had suffered several implementation challenges like lack of complete buy-in by all stakeholders and the nation’s difficult macro-economic conditions.
Enalemah said there was need for complete buy-in by all stakeholders and for them to “accept where you are now, where you want to be in future and how you are going to get there. Where you are now accommodates all the mistakes of the past; all the regrets of the past. You can actually forget the things that are behind and press ahead.”
He said the macro-economy was also important and that the government had been trying to create an enabling environment because it knows that for every sector, the macro-economic environment creates the impetus for them. “If it is difficult, then it is difficult for everybody and if it helps then it helps everybody.”
The framework, he said encompassed choices to be made concerning: what the immediate to long-term goals for the auto industry are; and how activities to revive the NAIDP and coalesce stakeholders’ support should be. He said these choices must fit and reinforce one other, and should be externally consistent and reasonable in terms of market conditions, demand, among others.
He acknowledged that Nigerians were resourceful and that if they were not doing well then it was because they were operating in a difficult environment.
The implementation plan is based on the following analytical framework: the Federal Government has chosen to focus on creating an overall enabling environment; providing production incentives; agreeing and monitoring realistic output targets.
The government, he said intends to do this through continuous stakeholders’ engage- ment; ensuring the existence of a market for serious players through tariffs, incentives, security of land borders, among others.
However, he said the government has chosen not to focus on pulicising overly ambitious output; target in the short/medium term or introducing a new auto industry plan.
The minister said he intended to encourage dialogue across diverse stakeholder groups; achieve better alignment of objectives; identify sector bottlenecks; seek/receive any additional input to NAIDP; seek/receive input to proposed implementation plan; and agree modalities for monitoring and evaluation.
NADDC…
Giving statistics in his presentation, ‘The National Automotive Industry Development Plan: Current Status’, the Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Engr. Aminu Jalal, emphasised the importance of the auto industry to the growth of the nation’s GDP.
Providing brief historical facts, the DG said some private companies started SKD (semi knock down) assembly in the 60s and that by early 70s and 80s, the federal government set up two car, and four light and heavy commercial vehicle assembly plants, assembling vehicles from CKD (completely knock down) parts, stating that “these were all privatised by December 2012.”
Regardless, he said the National automotive policy was re-launched in 2013 with a definite plan for implementation.