The Chief Executives/Managing Directors of major auto firms in Nigeria and heads of government agencies regulating the industry have scheduled a meeting to hold in Abuja on May 26. It is the inaugural edition of the Auto CEOs Forum that has been put together by Concerned Auto Editors together with the National Automotive Design and Development Council.
The forum, in agreement with the organisers, will find out major challenges that are negatively affecting the operations and reducing the speed of the development of the auto industry in the country. It will also provide workable solutions that would be together carried out by these critical stakeholders specifically, the forum will address issues such as the auto policy, local assembly plants and low patronage of locally assembled vehicles, import levies/duties; exchange rate policy as it affects auto businesses; and vehicle clearing-related problems.
The organisers listed government agencies who are actively involved at the forum, apart from the NADDC, as the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Inland Revenue Service, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Ministry of Finance, terminal operators, and Association of Clearing Agents.
Auto companies whose CEOs are featuring the introductory part of the event like Toyota Nigeria Limited, Weststar Associates, Innoson Motors, Pan Nigeria, Lanre Shittu Motors, CFAO, Kia Nigeria, Nord Automobiles, TSS Automobile, Dangote Peugeot Automobile/Sinotruck, Coscharis Motors, CIG Motors, Tata Motors, Jet Motor Company (Jet Systems) and Omaa Motors.
Director-General, National Automotive Design and Development Council, NADDC, Mr Jelani Aliyu, said the agency expressed excitement about the Auto CEOs Forum initiative and hope that the parley would provide the needed opportunity to bring solutions to those issues that had set the industry back and to help make sure that the stakeholders engage a new relationship for speedy growth of the auto sector in Nigeria.
