ECOWAS Pushes Regional Auto Industry Plan With Nigeria Among Leaders

ECOWAS is seeking to turn West Africa into a more competitive vehicle-manufacturing hub, with Nigeria identified as the regional bloc’s clearest example of progress under its automotive policy.

The ECOWAS Commission held a regional automotive industry development forum in Abuja on August 6 to accelerate implementation of the bloc’s automotive policy framework and build stronger regional value chains.

According to the commission, Nigeria, and to a lesser extent Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, have recorded measurable progress since the policy framework was adopted. West Africa currently has seven vehicle assembly plants operating at the semi-knocked-down level, with combined installed capacity above 100,000 vehicles a year.

The commission said the region still faces gaps in implementation, investment and industrial coordination. It presented the forum as an opportunity to address those barriers, increase local production and reduce dependence on imported vehicles and components.

In a related meeting, ECOWAS Commission President Omar Touray received Innocent Chukwuma, the executive chairman of Nigeria’s Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Group. Chukwuma stressed the importance of policy certainty for attracting private investment and building a competitive regional automotive industry.

Source: ECOWAS Commission