Despite the challenges bedevilling Nigeria’s automotive sector, some assemblers have expressed interest to invest in the production of electric vehicles (EVs) in the country.

Of the one billion cars in the world, only two million are electric. But that will soon change, as costs diminish, and governments encourage the adoption of EVs to cut carbon emissions and fight urban pollution. Sequel to this, some cities across the world have set a target year to ban the use of fossil fuel cars to mitigate the effect of gaseous emissions from them.

To catch up the evolution train, so far only Nigus Enfinity, an indigenous automaker, plans to introduce electric vehicles into the Nigerian automobile market this year, while its local assembly plant for EVs will be ready by 2020. The company Chairman, Malik Ado-Ibrahim, said Nigeria and Africa need to look inward to be at the fore of the automotive revolution, or risk becoming a dumping ground for banned vehicles from other countries.

In preparation for this, Ado-Ibrahim said his firm is already building a 100-megawatt (mw) solar power plant in Katsina, and Adamawa states. Ahead of the debut for its brand of EVs, he said Nigus Enfinity is partnering with a Chinese firm, Build Your Dreams, to import electric vehicles at affordable costs.

Although still not so popular, the Marketing Manager, Kia Motors Nigeria, Olawale Jimoh, revealed that Nigeria had already launched the use of EVs since 2015, as the automaker was the first to bring in such vehicles into the country. Accordingly, Jimoh said a number of people especially some government officials are currently driving electric vehicles.

Source: The Guardian