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From
left: Mr. Luqman Mamudu (Director Policy and Planning), Mr. Simon Ingersent (Designated CEO for Nigeria Operations), Director General, (NAC), Engr. Aminu Jalal, Mr. Eugene Ochse (Head of Africa Operations), Mr. M.M. Langdi (Chief Auditor) and Engr. Waheed Odetoro (Director Industrial Infrastructure) at NAC Headquarters Abuja. |
Top officials of the National Automotive Council (NAC) and WesBank of South Africa have met in Abuja on the proposed roll-out of Made-In-Nigeria Vehicle Finance Scheme scheduled for later part of 2015.
This was contained in a statement signed by the NAC Information and Public Relations Unit, and made available to the Newsmen in Lagos.
It said the NAC team led by its Director-General, Engr. Aminu Jalal, had in attendance the Director, Policy and Planning, Mr Luqman Mamudu and Director, Industrial Infrastructure, Engr. Waheed Odetoro
The WesBank delegation comprised Mr Eugene Ochse (Head of Africa Operations) and Mr Simon Ingersent (Designated CEO for Nigeria Operations), the statement read.
It said that the WesBank team also had interactive meetings with potential partners including selected vehicle dealers in Abuja to obtain first hand information and get acquainted with dealership practices peculiar to Nigeria.
According to the statement, NAC Scheme has been designed around a network of vehicle dealers and manufacturers distributors from whose floor the purchase process will begin.
The statement recalled that NAC signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FirstRand Bank in Johannesburg, South Africa in October 2014, mandating WesBank to manage consumer vehicle financing for Nigerian assembled vehicles.
It said Jalal, during the MoU signing, said the Nigerian government approved the Nigerian Automotive Industry Development Plan (NAIDP) to attract investments from vehicle manufacturers globally and grow the supply of locally-manufactured vehicles.
The statement quoted Jalal as having said that the MoU agreement would allow WesBank to work closely with NAC to develop vehicle financing solutions.
He said it was specifically for vehicles built in Nigeria, with the aim of making them readily affordable for the average Nigerian car user.
It also recalled that Jalal said that the Vehicle Financing Scheme would make Nigerian-assembled vehicles affordable on convenient payment terms spread over a period of about four years at affordable interest rate.
It said the scheme was also intended to assist vehicle assembly plants in Nigeria to gain high volume within a short time so as to facilitate local components development.
WesBank, a division of FirstRand Bank, is South Africa’s market leader in automotive asset finance. The bank is already successfully represented in other African markets including Botswana, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique, Swaziland, and Zambia.
This position has been achieved through successful partnerships with leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs), offering finance to consumers for both locally-manufactured and imported models.
