The President of the Coscharis Group, Mr. Cosmas Maduka, led a group to protest the imposition of the auto policy by the Federal Government in September 2013. In two years, his company has paved the way for Ford Motor Company to set up an assembly plant in Nigeria. He spoke in this interview with journalists in Lagos on what has changed and related issues affecting the auto industry. RASHEED BISIRIYU was there
Why did you decide to start with the assembling of the Ford Ranger in Nigeria?
The Ford family is excited about the assembling of the Ranger in Nigeria; this is the newest department within the Ford family. This new thing that they are doing in Nigeria has brought a lot of excitement and they are happy that they are in the right place. Everybody is interested in Africa, especially Nigeria, the largest economy on the continent. The people know that this is the way to go and this is where the future growth is. Forget about what is happening today, the future of the world; the next economic miracle of the world is happening in this part of the world whether we like it or not. The people who predicted China’s growth 40 years ago and predicted India’s economic growth are the same people predicting that if you’re not in Africa, particularly in Nigeria, you’ll be missing the latest thing that is happening.
Recently, you and other stakeholders in Nigeria’s auto industry met with the Director-General of the National Automotive Design and Development Council Aminu Jalal. What was the outcome of the meeting?
We had a good meeting. He just tried to refute all the stories we had in the newspapers; that they are not true. It was also meant to chart a new course on how to move the industry forward. It was just dispel the rumour about the government changing its mind about the auto policy and he wanted to make sure that we didn’t take it to heart; that those people who made those stories were just speculating; that there was nothing to back them up. And that the government is still committed to the auto policy.
Did your meeting deliberate on the threat of Tokunbo (used) cars in the country?
That is what they’re saying, that the government wants to extend it. But we are saying no. The government should follow the blueprint of the policy. Any extension is going to delay and draw back the auto policy. If you keep postponing, the price you’ll pay is that you’re delaying getting a benefit that is due to you. If I need to plant yam today and I say let’s leave it up until next year, I won’t make any harvest; harvest starts from the day I plant the yam.
In all honesty, do you think the auto policy is on course?
I can say so far, so good, it’s on course. There were a lot of delays in different things expected of the new government initially but it is understandable because there were no ministers in place for a long time. But now that the ministers are here, we will like to see things run based on the way we already agreed. So, it will be too premature for me now to tell you otherwise because the ministers have just been sworn in, so if you ask me again in January or February, I will tell you if I feel otherwise but for now, I will say it is on course.
Do you foresee any challenges in the years ahead on the nation’s auto policy direction?
Every business has its challenge; there is no business you go into that you’re not going to expect any challenge. But if for any reason the government reneges on the policy, then it’s a challenge for us. We don’t foresee that today; we all hope for the best- If you have never been to this part of the world, then you will not understand its challenges but we’re confident. We have been through this economy; we have surmounted several challenges. We do not think there’s anything we’re going to see that will pull us down. I am a Nigerian, I believe in this economy and to be a true Nigerian, you have to share its shame and glory. There are going to be some inconveniences starting auto manufacturing in Nigeria. But I will simply say that if you never planned to have children, the world will not be populated and no woman will tell you that she gave birth to a child without crying. But that is the only foundation for the future. If we don’t manufacture as a country, we will die. There is no way a population of 170 million people can live by importing other people’s products. Those people want us to continue to import from them. We should not only compete with them but also capture our own market and produce for our own people. South Africa’s population is only 40 million and we are going to be over 200 million people by 2020; if we’re importing every brand of car in this country, we have nothing to boast of. The South African auto policy started only 20 years ago; they shut their doors against vehicles from other parts of the world and came together before they joined the WTO. India did the same thing. In today’s world, people just want you to be a consuming nation. When you don’t have technological independence you’re enslaved, all these sayings that we’re not slaves anymore are not real; we remain slaves, we are economical slaves to other nations. When we can produce and become free, then we can talk.
Specifically, what is your advice to the Federal Government concerning the implementation of the auto policy?
My advice to the government is that there should never be a policy somersault with the auto policy; the government should continue to run with it. There should be government support because without the government support, it can never succeed. It has to play an important role for it to succeed.
Coscharis is a multiple franchise holder; in addition to the Ford plant, do you plan to set up other assembly plants?
We have built one assembly plant; we’re building the second assembly plant soon. When you come here in March in 2016, you’ll see another plant. It is a secret; the news today is on the Ford plant that is built in Ikeja, Lagos, that is what to focus on now.
We observe that major auto players don’t speak with one voice. What is being done in this regard?
When we finished that meeting that we had with the NADDC last month, all the players agreed to meet; the first meeting has taken place. Unfortunately, I was out of the country, but our deputy group managing director represented Coscharis. So the stakeholders have had a meeting and we’re speaking with one voice.
Now that you’re speaking with one voice, what do we expect?
The government should support the auto policy and allow us to create jobs, build Nigerian cars and export them to other parts of West Africa. There is a benefit Nigeria can get from this if we get it right because the ECOWAS accord is getting stronger. And if it becomes a reality, then cars that are produced in Nigeria can be shipped to Ghana, Senegal and all other places. That will create jobs for us and get the attention of the international community. These are benefits we can take advantage of. And if we don’t start doing it as a nation, we’ll lose out. If any of them starts doing it before us, then they’ll ship the vehicles to our country.
Will you be relying on auto financing from West Bank of South Africa to push the vehicles assembled in Nigeria?
That auto financing is still under discussion; what they are planning to do is to keep a single digit interest on the auto loan; but I can also tell you that once this market is ripe, you don’t even need to beg West Bank to come here. There is a Ford credit facility already in this market studying the situation. Another bank from the United States is in this market studying the situation. All we need to do is to put our hands together and get this economy moving. Every entrepreneur is a capitalist, looking for where to put his money and make profit. We have a population of 170 million; this market is bigger than the whole of North America’s at a time. So, the world knows the economic potential of the country but many of us don’t appreciate this. All they’re saying is put your acts together, we’re here to support you and make it work.
Are you hopeful local content manufacturers will spring up to aid this policy?
Once the volume of the cars being produced grows, you’ll see that local content manufacturers will follow. The first person that comes into the business will take advantage to produce for the other manufacturers. In the world, no car manufacturer produces everything for its own car; different automakers produce the components – the entire gear box for Ford, Toyota and other brands come from one source; it is just the badge that is different, many of the components come from one manufacturer.
Source: PUNCH.
No comments:
Post a Comment