A new ownership scheme that will enable Nigerians to acquire vehicles with ease will soon be launched by the federal government. Under the scheme, according to the National Automotive Design and Development Council (NADDC), Nigerians aspiring to own vehicles but without the needed funds can obtain soft loans from the participating banks to do so. NADDC said yesterday in Abuja that the federal government would roll out “the much-awaited Automotive Vehicle Finance Scheme before the end of June.” The council said that it was partnering with three commercial banks on the scheme and that vehicle loans would be given to eligible Nigerians after they made an initial deposit of 10 per cent of the total cost of the vehicle they desired to buy at a six per cent interest rate. The director-general of NADDC, Mr. Jelani Aliyu, dropped the hint when he inspected the newly – introduced Honda HR-V into the Nigerian market at the NADDC headquarters in Abuja. Aliyu said that the scheme was being implemented under the National Automotive Industrial Development Plan (NAIDP). According to him, NAIDP contains a number of policy measures needed to revitalise the industry for local value addition, job creation, and technology acquisition. Aliyu clarified that the scheme covers only vehicles manufactured in Nigeria, adding that at a low-interest rate, the country’s large demographics would be able to own any vehicle of their choice and pay over a couple of years. He expressed concern that Nigeria was spending over $8 billion on the importation of vehicles and other automotive related products, and emphasised that the figure simply goes out of the economy to purchase 300-400 used vehicles yearly with a lot of challenges with efficiency, safety, and zero- contribution to the economy. The NADDC boss said: “We are doing market development and as you are aware, in a number of countries, when you buy a vehicle, you have to put down 10 or 15 per cent and you drive home with the vehicle for a number of years. “But that is technically not available in Nigeria. Where you do have vehicle financing is in the high-interest rate of 20 per cent or 28 per cent,” he stated. It is against the backdrop that the government had evolved the new scheme to ease the acquisition of vehicles among Nigerians, he said.
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