The National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC) is in discussion with development banks and other partners for funding support for the auto industry. The funding gap in the sector, according to the NADDC is estimated at between $1trn and $5trn.

The NADDC Director-General Oluwemimo Joseph Osanipin said this in an interactive session with Reporters in Abuja.
Explaining the critical role funding plays in the auto industry, Osanipin said the dearth of funding slows the pace of growth of Nigeria's auto industry, noting that his council was in high-level discussion with the banks.

He said the Agency is working on funding, not only with the Development Bank, but on other ways to get funding within and outside Nigeria. Speaking about the size of the funding that would be required for the auto sector, the NADDC Boss said it is between $1trn and $5trn, noting that banks and partners are already buying into the funding proposals.

He explained further that though NADDC are not investors, but for the sector to achieve desired growth, it will require close to $1trn in funding. Speaking on the Council's plans for the accreditation and certification of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG)-powered vehicle conversion workshops in Nigeria, Osanipin said the Council will use National Occupational Standard (NOS) to train Nigerans.

He added that the first step was to promote CNG and think of the availability of CNG vehicles noting that this led to the introduction of NOS and NABTEB as certification approvals. Osanipin said the curriculum will be used to train Nigerian engineers.