Automotive Sector: Reps Task Central Bank, Others On Single Digit Interest Rate

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and other financial institutions have been asked to strategise on how loans could be obtained at single digit interest rate for investment in the automotive sector.

The chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Industry and the National Automobile Design and Development Council, Hon. Enitan Dolapo Badru, stated this on Monday in Asaba during a four-day retreat for members and staff of the House Committee on Industry.

Discussing the theme: “Building a Globally Competitive Automotive Sector in Nigeria through Effective Executive -Legislative Partnership,” Badru said effective executive -legislative partnership had become expedient to be able to build a globally competitive automotive sector in Nigeria.

He noted that the automotive sector currently has a lot of missing links, especially in financing, pointing out that the high interest rate of credit facilities was adversely affecting local manufacturers of vehicles and persons hoping to purchase either brand new or fairly-used cars.

“The committee will work with financial institutions to make the loans friendly, work along that line in order to make the nation’s automotive sector globally competitive,” he said.

Declaring the retreat open, Delta State Governor, Hon Sheriff Oborevwori, called for legislative backing for local manufacturing incentives, infrastructure funding and skill development that align with the commitment of the executive arm of government.

He commended the committee for their foresight and wisdom in convening the retreat, which he said was timely now that the country was desperately seeking to diversify its economy, revive local manufacturing capacity, and stimulate industrial growth through effective collaboration between policymakers and regulators.

The governor, who was represented by his chief of staff, Hon Prince Johnson Erijo, said Nigeria could and must build a sustainable and globally competitive automotive industry that would empower the youths, conserve foreign exchange and promote national pride.

Oborevwori added that the sub-national governments must complement the efforts of the federal government in the noble quest by making the local environments attractive to investors through land reforms, simplified approvals and social cohesion.

The governor remarked that globally the automotive industry remained a major employer of labour, and a key driver of economic growth and sustainable development, adding that the sector also had a powerful multiplier effect in the economy.

“It powered innovation in research and development, while stimulating growth in other sectors of the economy such as petroleum refining, steel making, glass manufacturing, finance, ICT, advertising, and mobility services,” he said.

In his goodwill message, the director general, National Automotive Design and Development Council, (NADDC), Mr. Oluwemimo Osanipin, called on the National Assembly to legislate on policies that would encourage investment in the automotive sector.

In an interview, the director general, Africa Parliamentary Resource Centre, Dr. John Mutu, and the clerk of the Committee, Dr. Usman Ibrahim Esq; said the retreat was meant to afford participants the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the workings of the NADDC and collectively design measures that will help achieve the agenda’s mandate.

They added that the participants would also discuss the role of the House Committee in delivering the mandate of NADDC and develop a roadmap that will guide the Committee’s activities in the next two years.

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