The National Automotive Design and Development Council has unveiled an ambitious plan to establish a major Automotive Development Park in Nnewi, Anambra State, in a bid to cut Nigeria’s heavy reliance on imported vehicles and components.

Director-General of the Council, Oluwemimo Osanipin, said the project is a central plank of the Nigeria First policy of the Federal Government, which seeks to prioritise local production across strategic sectors. He explained that the Nnewi Automotive Development Park will offer shared infrastructure and common facilities for manufacturers, easing the cost and complexity of setting up new plants.

According to him, the park is designed so that investors can plug into ready-made utilities, testing centres, logistics support and production spaces, rather than building everything independently. This model, he noted, is expected to lower entry barriers, attract fresh capital and accelerate industrial growth.

Osanipin stressed that the Council has made notable progress on the project but now requires stronger participation from private investors, financial institutions and industry players to move into full-scale development. He described Nnewi, long regarded as Nigeria’s automotive hub, as the natural location for a fully integrated cluster that can support vehicle assembly, component manufacturing and research.

The initiative targets one of the sector’s most persistent problems: fragmented production and high operating costs driven by poor infrastructure. By concentrating activities in a purpose-built park, the NADDC hopes to create economies of scale, deepen local value chains and make Nigerian-assembled vehicles more competitive.

Osanipin also urged Nigerians to patronise locally assembled vehicles, arguing that increased demand is essential to sustain factories, create jobs and build technical skills. He linked this push to a broader policy shift that includes the Federal Government’s approval for the procurement of electric buses for civil servants, with a clear directive that they be sourced from local assemblers.

To support the transition to cleaner mobility, the government is procuring charging stations to be installed across parts of the country. In parallel, the NADDC is investing in capacity building for local production of key components such as batteries and tyres, and is working with the Bank of Industry to channel funds from the National Automotive Development Fund to qualified firms.

The Council is also preparing new legislation to strengthen its mandate and align Nigeria’s automotive framework with global best practices, a step stakeholders say is vital if the Nnewi park is to catalyse a genuine shift from import dependence to domestic manufacturing.