I am conducting a research on #Electric #Vehicles in South Africa and currently studying the South African Automotive Master Plan. I’m wowed by the degree of clarity about how the country wants and plans for their automotive industry to progress. They are very intentionally building up their car manufacturing industry.
Already, the SA automotive industry contributes a whole 7.5 percent to their GDP. In 2015, the industry generated R235 Billion (nearly 15 Billion USD) in annual manufacturing sales and employed 113, 532 persons across assembly, components and tire manufacturing sections!
It just raises some questions in my mind about how Nigeria has consciously invested into it’s automotive industry or how it has dealt with the challenges. How have we created incentives to encourage manufacturing and reduce import? There’s a lot of revenue that the government can make from this alone.
And the job creation which will result from the car manufacturing value chain will take Nigeria away from it’s current position of the poorest nation in the world.
How can the #Nigerian government work with car manufacturers to understand what the challenges are and to create policies which can support car manufacturing including the manufacturing of #Electric #vehicles? The sector itself in Nigeria has experiences a lot of issues including efforts from the government whch did not produce substantial results. There has been a lot of back and forth with the government, car dealers and manufacturers and till date some of the policies created has not yielded a positive result on the outside. This article HERE throws more light.
Nigeria signed the Paris Agreement in 2015 therby committing themselves to work alongside other countries to reduce global carbon emission down to 2 degrees. For this reason, Nigeria must work on strategies to support the manufacture of electric vehicles (which will go a long way to reduce local air pollution and support their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) and create policies that will support EV deployment in Nigeria.
I know it is easier said that done but we can start somewhere.
Nigeria has to be represented at the global table. So many important conversations going on about tech inventions, AI, moon travel, electric cars, driverless cars and other important areas but Nigeria is not in these tables. This is because not a lot or nothing at all is going on in the country concerning these sectors.
A conscious effort from the government to create the enabling environment by starting with policies and regulation will drive groth for the development of these important sectors by stimulating activities and traction.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Glory’s life goal is to be a positive part of people’s lives and make good impact. She’s passionate about economic development of Nigeria and work in the field of renewable energy and environmental sustainability to promote Nigeria’s economic growth through job creation and education. She is the founder of Climate Smart Nigeria which promotes Climate Change Education in Nigerian institutions and provide capacity building on renewable energy technologies. Recently she established the Renewable Energy Technology Training Institute (RETTI) where she is also the Chief Instructor. The institute grooms the next generation of efficient installers and entrepreneurs with a focus on women who will serve as a competent workforce for the renewable energy industry and provide solutions to Nigeria’s prevalent energy problems as entrepreneurs.
Under Glory’s leadership, RETTI recently lauched eight short ONLINE COURSES to assist people wanting to get into the energy sector especially renewables.
Glory recently received the Florence School of Regulation’s – Lights on #Women #Award as one of four women out of 150 women from 64 countries. This award will granted her a featured interview with the FSR and a scholarship to study the course – #Electric #Vehicles (EV), a Power Sector Perspective and expand her knowledge about how EVs, #Charging #Infrastructure and the #V2X (Vehicle to Everything) concept will change the face of electricity and transportation.
Glory has published four books to promote the knowledge of climate change and renewable energy; Something is happening; Our world is changing; Understanding the Basics of Climate Change– for Secondary Schools – The Concept and Science of Climate Change – for the general adult public, A short thriller story – The Year Ran Mad – which depicts the impact of climate change on livelihood for Primary schools and The Girl who saw tomorrow, a short novel for secondary school – amzn.to/2TEYB1u.
Glory can consult for African government entities about regulation for Electric Vehicles.
MORE ABOUT GLORY
She is the recipient of several local and international awards and recognitions which include (a) Nigerian Star from the US Mission in Nigeria (2018), (b) The Nigerian Energy Champion Prize from the Nigerian Energy Awards (2015), (c) President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellowship Award (2015), (d) The Young Energy Professional of the Year Award by Nigeria Energy Awards (2018), (e) A Foremost Woman in Renewable Energy award recipient (2017); (f) Environmental Award of Excellence, Environmental Community Development group (2014) In April 2019, Glory was selected
as one of 15 African female business leaders to attend United States Government’s launch of the OPIC 2X
Africa and meet with advisor to President of USA – Ms. Ivanka Trump and the Ethiopian President – Ms Sahle-Work Zewde.
In the course of her work she has met and shared platforms with a number high profile personalities and leaders at the national and international levels, including President Barack Obama, US Senator Chris Coons, Advisor to President Trump, Ms Ivanka Trump, Gov. Jack Markell of Delaware USA, Ethiopian President – Ms Sahle-Work Zewde, The USG Undersecretary for Energy – Mr Mark Menezes and former Vice President Ebitu Ukiwe of Nigeria.
She is a consultant for Nigeria’s largest renewable energy event, the Nigerian Alternative Energy Expo. She was a former Vice President of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Association of Nigeria (MWFAAN), and is currently an active member. She’s an alumna of Abia State University, Nigeria, The Lagos Business School, University of Delaware, USA, European Energy Institute and The Florence School of Regulation, Italy.
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