WorldStage– The Federal Government has called for increased local production of tyres and batteries to reduce Nigeria’s dependence on imports and conserve foreign exchange.
The Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Joseph Osanipin, made the call at a Sensitisation Workshop for Nigeria Tyre and Battery Industry, on Thursday in Abuja.
The theme of the workshop was, ” Revitilising the Automotive Value Chain in Nigeria: Strategies for Growth in the Tyre and Battery Sectors”.
Osanipin said that Nigeria had the capacity, raw materials and market size to produce tyres and batteries locally, stressing that continued importation amounted to avoidable capital flight.
According to him, Nigeria has over 60 million tyres in use nationwide, highlighting the huge domestic market and the volume of funds expended annually on imported tyres.
The NADDC boss said that local tyre and battery production aligned with the Federal Government’s Nigeria-First Policy, which promotes local manufacturing and value addition.
He said that Nigeria was one of Africa’s leading producers of natural rubber, adding that exporting raw materials without processing undermined industrial development.
“We can not continue to export raw materials and import finished products. Where we have comparative advantage, we must take advantage of it,” Osanipin said.
He said that tyres and batteries were critical entry points for automotive localisation because their production technologies were less complex and relied largely on locally available inputs.
The Chairman, Nigeria Automotive Manufacturers Association (NAMA), Mr Bawo Omagbitse, said that localisation was critical to achieving the 40 per cent local content requirement needed to trade competitively under regional frameworks.
Omagbitse said that tyres and batteries offered a practical starting point for localisation because Nigeria possessed the raw materials and market demand.
“We must start with what we have. Batteries and tyres give us the opportunity to localise faster and at a lower cost,” he said.
He expressed optimism that Nigeria could attain between 35 per cent and 40 per cent local content in the automotive sector within five years if stakeholders sustained current efforts.
Also speaking, the Deputy Chairman, House Committee on Environment, Hon Terseer Ugbor, said that local production of tyres and batteries had implications beyond economic growth to include public safety, environmental protection and community health.
Ugbor said that improper disposal of substandard tyres and batteries contributed to air, soil and water pollution, stressing the need for strong environmental standards alongside industrial expansion.
He assured stakeholders of the National Assembly’s support for policies and legislative frameworks that promote environmentally responsible manufacturing and public safety.
Other stakeholders, including representatives of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) and the Bank of Industry (BOI), pledged support for quality assurance, financing and regulatory compliance to strengthen local production.
