The Director-General of the National Automotive Council (NAC), Mr. Aminu Jalal has said the Council had the potential to generate over 200, 000 jobs when fully operational.
Jalal said this in an interview with news men recently.
He said the Council had many components and that each of the components could create employment opportunities for job seekers in the country.
“The auto industry is very huge and a car has over 2,000 components and each of these components is an industry,’’ he said.
He posited that the areas of job opportunities included mechanics, insurance, financing, logistics among others.
Jalal said the new automotive policy of the Federal Government was investor-friendly even as he said that 23 car assembly plants had already shown interest to invest in the country,
He listed the companies to include Piaggio Innoson Vehicles Manufacturing Company and National Trucks Manufacturers at Kano State.
Jalal said that to ensure that the auto industry was developed; the Federal Government had given incentives to the tyre manufacturers to encourage them to invest in the economy.
He added that tyre manufacturers like Michelin and Dunlop had shown interest to return to country.
He listed the incentives to include free-duty on their equipment and incentive to import 20 per cent of tyres into the country.
Jalal said that Nigeria was currently spending more than one trillion naira on the importation of vehicles and their spare parts adding that substantial part of the figure would be saved if the nation’s automotive industry was fully functional.
He said the industry still faced the problem of scepticism on the part of potential investors who were doubtful of government’s commitment to the full implementation of the new automotive policy.
Jalal said the Federal Government remained fully committed to the implementation of the policy.
He said that this year, NAC would commit itself to local content development and assist local entrepreneurs in accessing financial assistance to boost their operations.
