The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has been requested to establish a special intervention fund for the automotive industry by the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC).
The council praised the apex bank for intervening in important economic sectors, particularly in agriculture, power, aviation, and health, among others, but requested that these actions be extended to the automotive industry as well given its potential to create jobs.
In an interview with journalists yesterday in Abuja, the Director-General of the NADDC, Jelani Aliyu, stated that the intervention money had become essential to support the Council’s work on the car financing plan.
Recall that the Federal Government announced plans to introduce a vehicle financing program in February 2021 to assist Nigerians in purchasing new cars.
This was a component of the National Automotive Industry Development Plan’s (NAIDP) 5-point comprehensive program, which aimed to encourage the manufacture of cars and car parts locally.
The head of NADDC bemoaned the fact that the average Nigerian is no longer able to purchase a brand-new car as they once could, noting that in other countries, people may purchase new cars on credit by contributing five or ten percent of their costs.
“On vehicle financing, we are in talks with banks. We are going after terms that will be very conducive for people. Single-digit interest rate and we are talking about no more than 10 per cent and being able to pay over at least, five years and more.”
“So these are conditions that are typically easy for commercial banks to offer. We are looking for collaborative efforts where the government puts in some money and the banks put in more money.”
“There are some specific terms, which are hard for the banks but will make it much easier for Nigerians to afford these vehicles.”
Additionally, he claimed that the National Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP), also known as the Nigerian auto policy, had been updated to reflect current economic conditions around the world.
