From ABN Digital

Nigeria’s car industry is set to get a major boost, as the government begins the implementation of its new automotive development plan.

“I think everybody knows that recently, we signed a distribution agreement with our partners in Nigeria and following from the partnership, we’ve been working with MOU to look at the manufacturing capacity in Nigeria,” Jim Dando, General Manager, Sub Saharan Africa Nissan told CNBC Africa.

The policy will among other things revive local production of vehicles in the country and encourage partnerships between local and international car manufacturers.

“Up until this point, the environment for manufacturing products in Nigeria has not been conducive at all. The policy has become feasible for international manufacturers to actually move manufacturing into Nigeria,” said Dando.

Currently, Stallion produces commercial vehicles at the facility in Lagos but plans to expand to 45,000 units and to assemble a range of cars, light duty trucks, pickups and vans.

“We are not in this for the short term, we intend to have a relationship with Nigeria that will sustain growth for a much longer period,” he added.

Read more at ABN Digital.