The federal government has promised to increase local content in automobile industry manufacturing in the country to 30 per cent.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, John Enoh stated this at the launch of electric vehicles for transportation by New Electric Vehicles (NEVs) in Abuja, at the weekend,
“If you look at Mr. President’s eight-point agenda, agenda seven speaks to the mandate of the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, and that is the diversification of our economy through industry, through digitilisation, through creative arts, through manufacturing and through innovation.
“Those milestones, the first is to increase the local content of locally manufactured vehicles by about 30 per cent, to see whether we’ll be able to produce locally at least one million vehicles. I mean, to see how we can increase the number of jobs that are available in this sector to about 200,000.
“And most of all, to see how we can increase the local production of electric vehicles by 30 per cent,” he added.
He congratulated EVs for their disruptive innovation, adding: “Yes, electric vehicles are the future. But that future starts today. We must promote that future today and try to make sure that we achieve it.”
The Minister of Science, Innovation, and Technology, Uche Nnaji praised the initiative, and emphasised the government’s commitment to support local manufacturing and sustainable energy.