W/Africa auto show: 70 exhibitors eye investment in Nigeria

The second edition of the West Africa Automotive Show (WAAS) kicked off in Lagos this week with over 50 exhibitors from around the world expressing interest in establishing their presence in the Nigerian market.

According to them, Nigeria with over 200m people, remains a viable market for the automotive market hence their interest in establishing their presence in Nigeria.

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The exhibitors, drawn from Africa, Middle East, Asia, America and Europe, displayed latest technologies in vehicle spare parts such as lubricants, batteries, gas-to-petrol conversion technologies, among others, for vehicle owners and auto engineers to adopt.

Speaking with journalists during the first day of the three-day event held at the Landmark Events Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos, some of the exhibitors described the Nigerian market as very huge, stating that the country’s business environment favoured the automotive business.

One of the exhibitors, Zamel LPG/CNG Systems, said it had concluded arrangement to have a representative in Nigeria.

Business Development Officer of Zamel, Mateusz Koprianiuk, said Nigeria had enormous gas reserves to have more vehicles powered by compressed natural gas as against the Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG).

This, he said, would go a long way in reducing carbon emission and mitigating its effect on climate change, disclosing that it was a simple process to convert LPG vehicles to CNG vehicles and reiterated the determination of the farm to assist the federal government in achieving a more environmentally-friendly automotive sector.

Managing Director of BtoB Events, Jamie Hill, organisers of the exhibition, said he was thrilled by the exhibitors’ interest in establishing business interests in Nigeria.

He said, “This is the second edition of the West African Automotive Show, and the focus is to bring new technologies from the automotive sector from around Nigeria and around the world together with local partners and assembly plants to improve the safety and efficiency of vehicles on Nigerian roads.

Hill promised to align with the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) for the next edition in line with the national automotive policy.