Shortage Of Spare Parts Major Challenge For Nigeria’s Automobile Industry– Dangote

Dangote Group Chief Commercial Officer, Rabiu Umar, has said that the problem with Africa’s automobile space is not the assembly and manufacturing of new cars.

He said the major issue with the automobile space is the shortage of spare parts needed to sustain the already existing cars.

Umar said this at the Intra-African Trade Fare in Durban, South Africa.

According to him, top African businesses and stakeholders are pushing for home made spare parts.

Umar said, “On the automobile space, there was a session at this programme that spoke about those value chains issues that can be addressed and I think it is a huge opportunity.

“Let’s focus on and nothing forgetting that it is not all about making brand new cars. Most of the cars in Africa are not brand new cars anyway, so, it is question of even the spare parts that are required and imported every year to keep these cars on the road.

“So, having that value chain produced in Africa, will certainly help that process of integration, that process of localising our production capabilities and opportunities.”

Dangote Group owned by Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote has invested in car manufacturing.

The Group signed a deal with Peugeot worth N3.5bn in 2018 to manufacture cars in Kaduna.

In Nigeria, Innoson Vehicle Manufacturing Company (IVM), a leading indigenous automobile makers has the capacity of manufacturing 32,000 cars annually.

The country has the capacity of manufacturing 400,000 cars, the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) said in October.

But spare parts dealers had told THE WHISTLER how it has become difficult to import spare parts into the country leading to spike in prices.

Earlier in January 2021, a Toyota Highlander 2008 engine was N300,000, but it now sells around N550,000 to N600,000.

A Toyota Corolla S engine as of December was between N320,000 to N330,000 but now sells for N380,000 and N400,000.

The price of KYB shock absorber imported from Dubai or Japan over the last two months has risen from N60,000 to around N85,000.