FG woos vehicle assemblers with 10-year tax relief

The Director General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Mr Jelani Aliyu, has said local vehicle assemblers and manufacturers of automotive components and products will now enjoy a tax relief of between five and 10 years.

This, he said, was part of the incentives included in the recently approved revised Nigeria automotive policy.

Daily Trust reports, however, that the revised policy is yet to be sent to the National Assembly.

It could be recalled that the 8th Assembly passed the Auto Policy Bill which President Muhammadu Buhari failed to assent to and since then experts had keenly awaited the promised revised policy which only materialised a fortnight ago but still requires the legislative processes.

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The DG, in his paper presented at the just concluded West Africa Automotive Show (WAAS) in Lagos, said the new policy encourages investment in the sector.

According to the DG, represented at the event by a deputy director of the council, Segun Omisore, while assemblers in the conventional combustion engine vehicles will get five-year tax relief, electric automobile and component makers will enjoy 10 years.

Jelani said, “The policy promotes investment in the auto sector and fiscal incentives which includes additional tax relief for five years for assemblers or manufacturers of automotive components and products; 10 years for assemblers/manufacturers of electric vehicles and components used in electric vehicles and many other incentives provided.”

He also noted that the new policy would position Nigeria’s automotive ecosystem as a leading centre for automotive production in Africa.

He said the approved policy document would run from 2023 to 2033.

Jelani gave some of the objectives of the policy as providing a legal framework for the development of a competitive and sustainable automotive industry in Nigeria; creating an environment that allows existing assembly plants to survive, grow and attract other original equipment manufacturers, and local content suppliers and facilitating the transfer of technical know-how and technological skills for the development of the automotive industry.

The NADDC boss assured that on the part of the council as a regulatory agency of the auto industry, “We will continue to support all our stakeholders in the development of the industry by providing the necessary policy framework and the investment promotion incentives to support the industry.”

He said the new policy “provides policy direction and investment promotion incentives for the first time to electric and gas-powered vehicles development in Nigeria.”